Fairway Aviation Academy, leading the way in meeting the demand for Pilots of the future
Global economic expansion has resulted in airlines across the world expanding their fleets and flight schedules. According to the latest prediction by Boeing, which is based on indisputable facts and calculations, there is an overwhelming worldwide demand for more pilots. It has been foreseen that over the next two decades, the Asia Pacific region will lead the worldwide growth in demand for pilots. Of the predicted overall total of 650,000, the Asia Pacific region alone, will face a demand for 253,000 new pilots. According to Boeing’s 2017 Pilot and Technician Outlook, North America will require 117,000, Europe 106,000, the Middle East 63,000, Latin America 52,000, Africa 24,000 and CIS / Russia 22,000 by year 2036.
This prediction has seen the birth of a number of aviation academies and a significant change in the current course curriculum, which needs to be tailored to enable optimum learning and knowledge retention. Immersive technologies, adaptive learning, and new teaching methods will also be needed to effectively meet a wide range of learning styles.
The national regulatory authority issues all licences – in Sri Lanka it is the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka ( CAASL). A civilian commercial pilot must meet the standards of skill levels and Class 1 medical requirements set by the CAASL. In Sri Lanka, the Fairway Aviation Academy is a CAASL approved Fl i g h t Training Organization, which offers a CPL/ IR with theoretical training up to the Airline Transport Pilots Licence ( ATPL) standard, together with practical flying training. The purpose of the Fairway Aviation Academy ( FAA) is to cater to the growing need for skilled pilots in a variety of aviation fields in Sri Lanka and abroad.
Due to the specific location of the island, Sri Lanka is well positioned to serve the South Asia Region when it comes to aeronautical endeavors. Countries that are faced with difficult terrain due to their mountainous landscape, such as Nepal deem Sri Lanka and the Fairway Aviation Academy to be the ideal place of learning for aspiring young pilots.
The Fairway Aviation Academy also conducts a number of other courses including the Private Pilot Licence, which is categorized into 3 types of programmes to suit the needs of the applicants. The normal course is a 6- month programme consisting of 3 months of ground school and 3 months of flying, and a series of exams conducted by the Civil Aviation Authority. The part-time course is conducted over the weekend and following the completion of ground school, students may complete their designated hours of flying as per their own individual s c h e d u l e s. The E xe c u t ive PPL course is an extremely fl e x i ble pro - grammes designed to suit busy professionals, which is conducted solely according to the ap p l i c a n t ’ s requirements and schedule.
The Academy also conducts the Commercial Pilot Licence and the Airline Transport Pilot Licence theory courses with the approval of the Civil Aviation Authority for those pursuing a professional career in aviation.
The academy boasts some of the most advanced and modern technologies in order to provide students with the best instruction and training. The administration of the Fairway Aviation Academy has made it a point to hire instructors who specialize in each of the subjects featured by the various pro - grammes. The academy owns 2 Cessna 152 airplanes as well as 2 Cessna 172s and a Cessna 206.
Captain Chira Fernando, Head of Training at Fairway Aviation Academy brings with him over four decades of flight training experience in both military and commercial airlines such as Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways. He stated that they were aiming to become the leading Aviation Academy in Sri Lanka, by adopting strategies in line with the best practices adopted in the world of Flight Training. He went on to say that Fairway Aviation Academy has a very focused team of Instructors which they will be strengthening by conducting their own Flight Instructor Training. Captain Fernando is confident that this type of focused training will, to use an aviation term, place Fairway Aviation Academy at the leading edge of training in Sri Lanka.
Fairway Aviation Academy is uniquely placed to offer Assistant Flight Instructor Ratings, Cessna 172 Ratings and is the only one of its kind that is able to offer Float Rating. Multi-Engine training will also be added to the curriculum during the latter part of the year. At present Sri Lanka does not have many foreign pilot trainees. Having 16 operational airfields and monsoonal weather affecting only half of the island at any given time, good flying conditions are available during a large part of the year. Temperature variation is within a band of about 12 degrees. This undoubtedly makes Sri Lanka an ideal location for flying training. Fairway Aviation Academy is committed to becoming a training destination of choice in the near future.