Originally Posted by
Snakecharma
I have read about flying schools being established by various overseas airlines in Australia since Pontious was a cadet pilot.
Apart from a couple such as China Southern, Flight Training Adelaide (or whatever they are called), and I think one in Melbourne there have not been massive pilot factories established - and the ones named above are not massive.
The numbers quoted in the press for whatever brand of airline school - QF and VA - are farcical in my opinion. There is no doubt that some of the overseas airlines need those sorts of numbers but do we have the capability to train that many in this country? I would be surprised.
The big issue is getting the number of instructors. If a school is talking about 500 students a year then the requirement for instructors is going to be massive - it isn't like a grizzly CFI, a couple of grade 1's and a flock of Grade 2's and 3's is going to knock over 500 non english speaking students year in year out.
So the question is - can a school attract the number of instructors, particularly the senior ones required to actually manage the operation, and once they have them, keep them?
I doubt it.
The instructors, particularly the junior ones, are going to want to use the academy as a launch pad for their airline career - and rightly so. The older ones may see it as a way of getting into a career airline as well - depends on why they are still in the training industry - they may have a love for training - but either way the sponsoring airline needs to consider giving these people a career path into the airline, give them staff travel while at the academy and give them the respect that the teacher of their future pilots deserve.
If there was any consideration given to the training outcomes there might be consideration given to finding a way of getting existing trainers and checkers from the airlines to be seconded to the academy to give the students real world airline training - but to pay a 737, 330, 787, 777, 747 or 380 Captain their salary while training ab-initio students (unless you are paying the other instructors that same wage) is going to cause a bunfight.
Not every Grade 1 instructor has a wish to move on into RPT: many I know are happy with ab initio training, with others likewise for more advanced pilot training. Not that you'd expect them to work their bums off for award wages at a large overseas student flight school either. There would need to be a carrot in the contracts. But, anyone retiring out of RPT, and looking to do some 'retirement instructing' would probably not expect to be paid as they were in airlines. However, there probably isn't anywhere near the number of senior instructors necessary to oversee several large flying schools in Australia. happy days,