Ismael S. Alkoshy, Managing Director, Prince Sultan Aviation Academy (PSAA) • Interview

PSAA was a crucial player in maintaining the smooth operation of cargo and passenger flights during the pandemic, making sure its trainees were ready to handle anything.

PSAA is essential within the Kingdom’s flight and aviation ecosystem and is in a sector that has been particularly impacted by the pandemic. How has PSAA managed the crisis both internally and externally?

The aviation industry has been the most heavily affected in terms of dealing with the pandemic. However, it was mostly passenger flights that were affected; cargo flights are actually moving much more than they ever were before. Safety in the pandemic has been our main concern because if we did not have the proper safety procedures at the academy, we could shut down the entire aviation industry, since we train almost everyone in the sector. We had to be stringent in all of our safety efforts. Whether it is sanitizing our simulators or looking at practical areas for safety training, in all our procedures we take into consideration the Ministry of Health guidance and that of our sister companies. Like the rest of the industry, we moved forward with online education. The positive thing for PSAA is that we were pursuing this prior to COVID-19. We were ahead of the curve and did not require any major adjustments in our training provision methodology when the pandemic hit. Training is one of the things that is more cost effective and easier to do online for airlines rather than scheduling and sending staff to training centers during their layovers. For certain classes where we felt there should be interactions between the instructors and participants, we had virtual online classes with limited class sizes to facilitate interaction. For certain courses such as CPR and opening aircraft doors and slides, we put enough stringent procedures in place to ensure safety when people needed to physically attend.

Did PSAA have all the technological pieces it is using today in place before the pandemic or did the pandemic accelerate its adoption of technology?

When we speak about technology, we see the significant gains that constantly occur. We are constantly in the process of evaluating new companies coming in with innovations for the training community. During the pandemic, we were also going through a major integration at PSAA. Saudia has 11 different strategic business units (SBUs), and because of that, everyone had their own training entities. All those training entities are being integrated into one, and PSAA is working through those projects now. So far, we have integrated all the in-flight service training, where previously PSAA only had the safety portion. We also have ground operations training, aviation marketing, and general marketing for sales and ticketing. We are currently working with Saudia Aerospace Engineering Industries (SAEI) on integrating all the maintenance training and all the other general education items we teach, from finance to English-language courses. We have been extremely busy during the pandemic.

Did PSAA grow significantly in 2020 due to the restructuring of the SBUs’ training delivery?

Yes, in 2021 it will make a major difference. PSAA is the oldest training academy in the Kingdom and the Middle East; we have been here for 61 years. Right now, we are bringing all these entities under one umbrella. All training will now be given under one roof by one training entity to all the players in Saudi Arabia. It is not about Saudia; it is about supporting the government and its 2030 Vision to support the growth in the aviation industry for all aviation entities. Previously in some areas of training, PSAA’s doors were closed; we did not train other personnel except our employees. With this new vision, all of Saudia Group’s training is under one roof.