Flying School Owner makes AFR rich list

[Clare Prop]

From The Australian: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/bus...6a9f89957c46e6


Flight training has been temporarily suspended at Australia’s largest pilot academy, Soar Aviation, after training partner Box Hill Institute demanded documentation about its fleet.The TAFE college informed students of the three-day hiatus in flight training late Friday, saying Box Hill Institute “maintains safety as its top priority”.It comes as a growing group of current and former students seek a refund of their VET loan money from Box Hill and Soar, based on their claims they did not receive the training they were promised.Their complaints to Victoria’s Department of Education are now the subject of an inquiry by the Special Investigations Unit.The Australian Skills Quality Authority, which is the regulatory body for VET loan-related courses, has also been examining the aviation courses provided by Box Hill and Soar.ASQA delivered its report to the TAFE college last week, and CEO Vivienne King said they were “responding as requested”.That was followed by the email to students, informing them the college had “requested Soar to suspend flying for BHI students for the next few days”.“We will provide further information as soon as we can,” read the email from the college’s aviation department.A further email to students from Soar Aviation, signed by CEO Neel Khokhani, said “Box Hill Institute had requested documentation in relation to our fleet”.“We will be “pausing flight operations until this is provided,” Mr Khokhani said.“We will automatically cancel any flights you have booked for Saturday, Sunday and Monday. “You will not be charged for these flights.”He apologised for any inconvenience and promised to “be in touch soon”.One of the concerns raised by students was that their training was being conducted in Foxbat recreational aircraft rather than the Cessna 172s they were promised.The students also complained they were being made to redo training runs repeatedly despite being proficient, at an added cost.Federal Department of Employment figures show in the first six months of 2019, 289 people were enrolled in the Commercial Pilot’s Licence diploma course at Box Hill at a cost of $7.1m in VET loans.The data showed the unit of study completion rate was 47.6 per cent.Flight Training Adelaide had 32 students enrolled at a cost of just under $900,000 in VET student loans, with a 100 per cent completion rate.Mr Khokhani, 30, was recently named on Australia’s Young Rich List, based on his $66m fortune.Soar partnered with Box Hill in 2016, and according to Department of Employment data has produced fewer than 20 graduates.But Mr Khokhani said 61 people had successfully obtained their CPL with many going on to jobs in the aviation industry, including as flight instructors.