Air China's - Orient Aviation

MAIN STORYA British-Singaporean-Hong Kongjoint venture plans to becomethe Asia-Pacific’s largest trainingorganization in the next few years,graduating hundreds of pilots readyto step straight into the cockpitsof modern commercial jets. TOMBALLANTYNE spoke to one ofthe group’s principals, U.K.-basedMark Pearson.Nine new trainingcentres ‘will notscratch the surface’Mark Pearson, chairmanand chief executiveof UK-based International Av iat ionGroup (IAG), partof a new joint venture that plans at leastnine aviation training centres across Asiain the next two to three years, says thisinvestment will not get close to solving theacute shortage of professionals, particularlypilots, the region faces. At least, that is, notin the short to medium-term.“We are not even going to be scratchingthe surface,” Pearson told Orient Aviation.The reason is simple. Pearson did astudy some time ago that showed, out of atotal global requirement of 36,000 new pilotsevery year for the next 20 years, Asia alonerequired a minimum of 6,000 annually.IAG is providing the training know-howfor the new Alpha Aviation Group (AAG).It is backed by Hong Kong’s InternationalAviation Group and Singapore’s PrescientSystems & Technologies, an associatedcompany of Singapore TechnologiesEngineering Limited, with British venturecapitalists providing financial backing.Their first Asian training centre, detailsof which have been kept under wraps untilnow, is in the Philippines, at the former U.S.Clark air base, now an international airportand special economic zone (SEZ).The Clark Institute of Aviation willopen in July with a throughput of 218 pilotsannually. That will double in the second year.While it expands, work will be racing aheadto open three centres in India, three in Chinaand two in the Middle East.According to Pearson, new trainingcentres will be opening at an average rateof one every six months. Combined projectcosts are estimated to be in excess of US$320million and the funding will be secured by acombination of equity and debt financing.Even before it has opened its doors, Indianairlines have snapped up 60% of Clark’sinitial training capacity.“There is interest in countries such asIndonesia, Vietnam and other key areas. Theproblem is widespread, but our initial focusneeds to be India and China because they aresuffering most of all,” said Pearson.“Even if we open 10 training centres andwe have the capacity to do that tomorrow,our maximum capacity is still only going tobe 2,000 pilots. The Chinese Government‘ This is a dummy breakout.This is a dummy breakout.’Someone SomeoneSome Title Some Titlehave stressed they alone need another 12,000pilots in the next four years. At the momenttheir capacity is only 850 pilots a year in theirexisting training resources,” said Pearson.“India requires 4,000 pilots just to meetthe aircraft orders over the next four years.And it is not only pilots. While our primaryfocus is on pilot training, the intention is totrain aviation personnel across the board,including engineers, cabin crew, flightdispatchers and air traffic controllers. TakeIndia for example, 4,000 pilots means theyneed 11,000 cabin crew.”The problem has become so acute becauseany previous pool of licensed pilots with typeratings has already disappeared. “The onlysolution you have got is to take people fromthe street and train them up as commercialpilots,” said Pearson.Like many other training firms, Alphais focusing its training around the newMulti-Crew Pilot Licence (MCPL). Unlikethe normal ATPL, or Air Transport PilotLicence, which takes students through toturboprop operations, the MCPL producesgraduates already rated for commercial jetairline cockpits.“It’s the shortest possible time in whichto bring pilots into the market with therelevant training and at the right standard,”said Pearson.Even then, the course takes a year. “It’snot a total solution,” he said. “The problemis going to be in the dilution of experience.The airlines require pilots immediately.Unfortunately, we don’t have that solution.The best solution we can offer is going totake 12 months to start happening,” saidPearson.“A lot of airlines tell me they want pilotstomorrow. I can’t give them pilots tomorrow,but unless they make the decision todaythey are going to be facing exactly the sameproblem 12 months from today, and it is goingto be even more critical.”Clark was selected as the first trainingcentre because it offered many advantages.“It gave us the best opportunity to build thelowest cost base training in the region. It isstrategically located, easily reached from allparts of Asia,” said Pearson.“The Philippines has an abundance ofhighly literate English-speaking peoplethat we can train. There is a very low-costbase and tax concession at the Clark SpecialEconomic Zone. That means we can providevery high quality training at incredibly lowcost.”AAG already has people on the groundin India and China, conducting feasibilitystudies and narrowing down potentialtraining locations.26 ORIENT AVIATION MAY 2006