'India needs better standards in flight training

As group president he doesn’t get much time to fly aeroplanes. But flying still remains his first love, and it was to ensure that more Indian pilots get world-class training that he was recently in the capital. “We have just concluded an agreement with the Government of India to provide pilot training in the two national flight academies – Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udan Akademi (IGRUA) and the Rajiv Gandhi National Flying Training Institute (RGNFTI). Starting with 200 students at each of the institutes in the first year, we expect the intake to go up to 1,000 students in the coming years,” says Jeff Roberts, group president, innovation and civil training & services, CAE.
With both IGRUA and RGNFTI becoming members of the CAE Global Academy, Roberts sees CAE’s activities in India growing.

His Canada-based company is a world leader in providing simulation and modelling technologies and integrated training solutions for the civil aviation industry and has been supplying the Indian aviation industry with training solutions.
Roberts understands that studying at the CAE does not come cheap. That is why he’s looking at loan options for students. “The cost of a flying course can range between $60,000 and $100,000. We are talking to banks to work out educational loans for students from India. This should not be difficult since a certified student can easily repay the loan once he is absorbed as a pilot by an airline,” he hopes.
Roberts is also confident that the newly started programme for multi-crew pilot license will find many takers in India. “This is the latest programme where 200 of the 250 flying hours are spent on rigorous training in the high-tech simulators where a trainee is put through the different situations that he may have to tackle in a real-time flight,” he explains.
22/04/08 Banasree Purkayastha/Express TravelWorld