In May 2024, European aircraft manufacturer Airbus:
AFM Team Note – kindly contact us for a detailed excel breakdown of orders and deliveries by airline.
Source: Airbus
Photo Credit: Airbus
Global pilot training group Skyborne which operates flight training bases across the United Kingdom and the United States is thrilled to welcome 7 new IndiGo Cadets who began their flight training recently at its Vero Beach, Florida academy.
IN March 2024 Skyborne announced that it had signed a five-year contract extension with IndiGo, India’s largest passenger airline, to continue to train its next generation of A320 First Officers. Applications are open for the IndiGo Cadet Pilot Programme with Skyborne, offering 100 selected cadets per year an international training programme and US FAA and Indian DGCA dual licences.
Rina Basu, Regional Director (Asia Pacific), Skyborne, says: “The trust IndiGo has placed in Skyborne since 2019 is a huge source of pride and testament to our vision to redefine pilot training.”
The 17-month course begins at Skyborne’s United States facility in Vero Beach, Florida, with cadets spending 12 months earning their US FAA 141 Commercial Pilots License with Instrument Rating, plus the required multi-engine time, before completing a DCGA licence conversion in India. The application process has recently been revamped to include the latest suite of ADAPT pilot aptitude tests from Symbiotics.
Source: Skyborne
Photo Credit: Skyborne
BAA Training, which operates full flight simulator training centers and flight schools around the world, has welcomed a new group three of Indian Cadet program participants. These aspiring pilots will undertake EASA theory and flight training in Europe as their first step. Following this, they will proceed to further training and conversion in India. Before returning to Europe to obtain a DGCA aligned type rating.
BAA Training has a dedicated facility in India to support aspiring pilots and its training center in Vietnam provided training to over 160 Indian pilots before the start of 2024.
Source: BAA Training
Photo Credit: BAA Training
India has appointed Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu as its new civil aviation minister as of June 10th 2024. Mr Naidu becomes the 24th Minister of Civil Aviation and the youngest member ever to join the Union Cabinet at just 36 years old.
Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu LinkedIn Profile
Source: Indian Government
In a joint effort to enhance aviation safety, global pilot training solution provider CAE and Dubai, United Arab Emirates based airline Emirates published a new White Paper focusing on Continuous Professional Development (CPD) for pilots.
The new White Paper delves into the evolving landscape of pilot training, stressing the importance of CPD as technological advancements shift the pilot’s role from manual control to system monitoring. This transition necessitates new competencies, particularly in Non-Technical Skills (NTS), and highlights the need for innovative learning methodologies.
Traditionally, pilot training has centered on meeting and maintaining standards, a framework seen as more advantageous for organizations than for individual pilots. The White Paper advocates for a paradigm shift towards Continuous Recurrent Training (CRT), promoting flexible and personalized learning that can drive significant advancements in pilot training.
A key message of the White Paper is the movement from compliance-based to competence-based training, emphasizing continuous development. This approach involves setting individualized training goals and focusing on practical competence rather than mere knowledge absorption.
Drawing inspiration from the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), the White Paper outlines a CPD process encompassing planning, executing, recording, and reviewing learning activities. It also highlights essential enablers for effective CPD, such as maintaining curiosity, dedicating regular time for learning, seeking feedback, reflecting on experiences, and embracing new challenges.
You can download the white paper here.
Source: CAE & Emirates
Photo Credit: CAE & Emirates
Phoenix, United States headquartered global flight training group AeroGuard Flight Training Center, which operates a number of flight training bases in the United States, announced in 2024 its selection by Air India as the flag carrier’s preferred flight training provider. As the first group of future Air India pilot’s start their pilot training journey, AeroGuard’s CEO, Joel Davidson, visited the Air India Training Academy in Delhi, India to meet and spend time with the cadets. AeroGuard places significant importance on cultivating an airline aligned pilot training culture and ensuring that the cadets are prepared to train within industry leading safety and quality flight training operations.
The Air India cadet pilot program individuals start their training journey at the Air India Training Academy for their Ground School phase and gain exposure to the airlines culture. After completing their ground school training and exams in India, the cadets will come to AeroGuard’s Phoenix, Arizona base in the United States to conduct their flight training and establish the skills required for their professional pilot careers with Air India.
AeroGuard’s frequent meetings with cadets from airline partners signifies its commitment to fostering excellence in pilot training and establishing a foundation of trust and collaboration between AeroGuard, the airline partner, and the airline’s future pilots.
About AeroGuard Flight Training Center
AeroGuard Flight Training Center is a global leader in ab initio flight training with three U.S. campuses that offer accelerated commercial pilot training programs to candidates from all over the world. With a commitment to safety and student success, AeroGuard’s high quality training has established airline-ready cadets for over 20 years with more than one million flight hours of training experience and graduating over 7,000 cadets.
Source: AeroGuard Flight Training Center
Avia Solutions Group, the world’s largest ACMI provider (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance, and Insurance) services and owner of global pilot training group BAA Training, announced its financial performance results for Q1 2024. The Group’s revenue grew by 26%, reaching €508.8 million. The growth was primarily driven by a significant increase in passenger flight volumes – the Group’s revenue from passenger aircraft ACMI services grew 2.3-fold, reaching €216 million.
The Group’s EBITDA stood at €11.9 million, while its net losses comprised €97.5 million, meeting the overall expectations for Q1. These results were mostly due to investment into fleet capacity and crew, in preparation for a record-breaking summer season, as well as to strategic expansion in new markets.
During the first quarter of this year, the Group expanded its fleet with 13 new aircraft, bringing the total to 171 passenger and 42 cargo aircraft. Even though, in the aviation industry, the first quarter of any given year is typically considered not as profitable, the Group’s entire fleet, which today encompasses 213 aircraft, has already been leased to major European and international airlines, including Lufthansa Group, Turkish Airlines, Wizz Air, TUI, IndiGo, among others.
“We are now fully prepared for the summer season, which we expect to break all previous records. The Group’s aviation services infrastructure and global scale give us a significant competitive advantage and the status of industry leaders,” said Jonas Janukenas, CEO of Avia Solutions Group.
Avia Solutions Group is consistently implementing its expansion strategy in Asia, Asia-Pacific, and South America, which enables it to efficiently manage seasonality in Europe by shifting aircraft from one region to another. Early in Q1 2024, the Group acquired the Australian airline Skytrans, and is planning to establish ACMI airlines in Brazil, the Philippines, Thailand, and Malaysia later this year.
Based in Ireland, Avia Solutions Group operates in 68 countries around the world, and has offices in Lithuania, New York, Dubai, Dublin, and other cities around the globe. The Group consists of 100+ companies providing a wide range of aviation services like aircraft maintenance and repair (MRO), pilot and crew training, ground handling, and more. The Group’s team encompasses 12,000 highly qualified aviation professionals.
Source: Avia Solutions Group
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