Learn to fly an Airbus in 1 year

If the vast potential of the newly-opened Clark International Aviation (CIA) at the Clark Special Economic Zone in Pampanga, Philippines would be realized, commercial pilots can well be the next professionals that Filipinos could be famous for.
Opened early this year, the CIA offers an intensive, integrated 12-month training of first-time pilots. At the end of the program, graduates would be qualified and certified to fly Airbus 320s, the most favored single-aisle aircraft in the world.
CIA chairman and chief executive officer Mark Pearson believes there will come a day, while on a flight from London to Paris, he would recognize the captain as a graduate of CIA – and a Filipino at that.
At the core of CIA program is an $ 11-million, state-of-the-art full flight simulator, the first of its kind in the country.
“We train pilots who have never flown an airplane before. They graduate from college and come here for the intensive, integrated, 12-month program. They come and live here at Clark. In the first five months, they spend their time in the classrooms to learn all the theoretical knowledge plus ground studies. They have to learn about aviation, meteorology, navigation, flight instruments and air law, among others,” explained Pearson, himself a former pilot for the British airline Monarch.
From ground instructions, the pilot cadets move on to fly 70 hours in small light planes where they will learn “basic pilot skills.
Pilot-cadets live inside the CIA compound but are accorded comfortable accommodations. Pilot-cadets may also bring their wives with them during the program.
At the end of the 12 months, the pilot-cadets not only graduate as commercial pilots but fully type-rated to fly the Airbus 320 which immediately made them eligible to enter the airline service.
At the moment, course fee is pegged at $ 80,000.
Pearson added that what makes CIA’s program distinct is that it is the first school in the world which has actually commenced with the multicrew license program approved by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
He added that CIA is an international school and that majority of the pilot-cadets do happen to be Filipinos. But it does have students from Europe and India and is expecting a huge influx from the Middle East and China.
30/05/07 Ronniel C. De Guzman/Manila Bulletin, Philippines