Pilot shortage prompts Air NZ aviation academy
By ROELAND VAN DEN BERGH - The Press | Saturday, 17 May 2008
Air New Zealand plans to build an aviation academy in the face of a global shortage of pilots and engineers.
Now, the airline mainly recruits pilots who have built up experience flying with small airlines and then trains them to fly its planes.
But Air New Zealand general manager of airline operations and chief pilot David Morgan said the huge demand for pilots worldwide meant Air New Zealand had to develop a steady flow of talent to support its growth plans.
The academy was expected to open later next year and would take students from high school or tertiary education and train them to fly from scratch. The airline would continue to recruit qualified pilots.
The academy would work in partnership with other training organisations around the country to produce up to 300 pilots and engineers a year.
Training would also be provided for other Asia Pacific airlines, including cabin crew and specialist managers.
Morgan said its existing training facilities at Auckland International Airport would be expanded, or moved to another campus, including classrooms and additional simulators.
Air New Zealand will introduce a new fleet of Boeing 777-300ERs from 2010, followed by a fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
That growth, together with an ageing pilot workforce, meant the airline would need between 90 and 150 new pilots a year as the fleet grew, Morgan said.
Air New Zealand employs more than 1200 pilots across the group, including 860 in its jet fleet. Globally, airlines need about 17,000 new pilots a year, much of that driven by massive growth in India and China.
"We have got to get young people interested in aviation as a career, whether it be as a pilot, or just as importantly, as engineers and flight attendants," Morgan said.
The curriculum was yet to be finalised, but it appears likely that students would first learn to fly a light aircraft with a partner flying school.
Air New Zealand would then fast-track their training as airline pilots in its own simulators.
"These people come through thinking like airline pilots when they first step into the cockpit."
Whether students would have to pay for their training was yet to be decided, but Morgan said trainee pilots already qualified for student loans.
Air New Zealand was also considering introducing a new multi-crew pilot's licence (MPL), which allows pilots to fly as a co-pilot, but not fly on their own.
The licence has been introduced in Australia and Europe and significantly shortens the traditional training process.
Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Bill Sommers said the MPL licence was on a programme for approval next year.
Air New Zealand sacked about 300 engineers two years ago in a restructuring of its engineering business to keep heavy maintenance in-house.
Morgan said since the engineering business was put back on a competitive footing, it had attracted considerable work from other airlines, and was in a growth phase.
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