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A number of aviation training institutes have cropped up to cater for the industry’s manpower shortage. But will the economic downturn leave new students hanging in the air?
Not many of us can deny that we have been, albeit momentarily, tempted into an aviation career. In today’s competitive world, it appears that the appeal for flying in the skies has lost some of its charm, with young people increasingly choosing other more conventional career paths.
For the fast-growing global aviation world, however, these choices have meant that the industry has been faced with an increasing manpower challenge. And as passenger numbers continue to rise, so too will the demand for skilled aviation personnel to supply the airlines. With the greatest growth in passengers occurring in the Middle East, the region in particular is facing a potential crisis on its hands.
The only real solution to the Middle East’s aviation manpower shortage is a two-pronged strategy. On the first hand, more local young people need to be encouraged into an aviation career, and secondly, the available training facilities must be up to the standards needed to operate in today’s competitive industry. Fortunately for the region, improvements in the latter have already been getting a headstart.
Earlier this year, for example, Emirates Aviation College announced an expansion of its MBA programme in Aviation Management due to its popularity and success.
To be launched later in the year, students will have the flexibility to study a diverse range of professional vocational and academic programmes in locations including Dubai, Singapore and the UK.
“One of the biggest issues for the year is meeting the challenge of supplying the aviation industry with the sheer numbers of specialised manpower it needs in order to flourish and expand over the coming year,” emphasises Mohammed Yousuf Al Budoor, senior vice president, Academic Wing, Emirates Aviation College (Aerospace & Academic Studies).
As part of the role in fulfilling this need, the college provides qualifications for a impressive range of aviation careers, from air traffic controllers and aircraft engineers to flight dispatchers.
“It is the duty of aviation-specialised institutions to inform young people planning their future career that there is a high demand for aviation professionals across the world,” maintains Al Budoor.
Emirates Aviation College does, of course, also offer students with an added attraction to joining its ranks – that of the infamous Emirates nametag. “Emirates has changed the concept of flying and is recognised for its innovation in aviation,” Al Budoor points out. “Our relationship has enabled enhanced training opportunities for students not normally available to those offered by independent training institutes.”
However, the numbers of top-rate independent aviation training institutes in the region has been flourishing and many, like the Jordan-based Ayla Aviation Academy, have also been keen to set up close working relationships with particular airlines.
Marwan Atalla, CEO of Ayla Aviation Academy accepts this influx of aviation training institutes into the region with a positive viewpoint. “This is becoming an increasingly competitive field, but this raises the quality bar, and ultimately is better for the consumer due to competition,” he points out.
Based at King Hussein International airport in Aqaba, Ayla Aviation boasts approval from both Royal Jordanian Airlines and Gulf Air and provides aspiring pilots with training using ‘using state-of-the-art aircraft, simulators and training techniques’.
“While cadets are amidst their training they also receive extra skills that will help in their future careers in aviation, such as teambuilding, communication, social responsibility and leadership skills,” says Atalla. The academy has already graduated over 60 cadets and has many more waiting eagerly in the wings to receive their aviation qualifications.
With the demand for aviation professionals at an all time high, some may criticise training institutes such as Ayla as simply churning out as many graduates as possible.
However, Atalla is quick to argue against this scepticism. “Ayla has a limit on our student intake. We have a comprehensive selection testing process, and stay innovative and progressive in our training,” he states. “We stick to our basic principle of providing quality over quantity.” However, if ever there were two hot topics in the aviation industry at the moment, it is manpower demand versus supply, and safety.
With so many aviation training institutes promising their students a high-flying aviation career in the not too distant future, the question can crop up whether safety is being compromised.
“Flight schools can produce low time pilots, but airlines need and generally require high time pilots for good reason and those pilots will be more and more difficult to find/hire/retain,” points out Bill McKnight, associate director at global management consultants, AT Kearney. “The industry recognises the problem and has initiated programmes to deal with the safety issue, but it remains a challenge.”
To prevent this scenario, international guidelines and standards for aviation training have long been set up by bodies such as the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and aviation training providers in the region are further monitored and assessed by local governmental authorities.
“Standardising training has and will continue to be one of the biggest issues in aviation training,” agrees Matthew Flaherty, head of marketing and admissions at another regional aviation institute, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise Flight Academy (DAEFA). “There has always been a wide spectrum of ‘quality and content’ in the sector and this needs to be resolved.”
