Jetstar launches pilot cadet scheme

“We anticipate up to 20,000 applications for this attractive new program which seeks to remove some of the traditional barriers to becoming an airline pilot, demonstrating the high demand to enter this highly skilled and sought-after profession,” Jetstar CEO Bruce Buchanan said.

The program will accept its first intake of pilot candidates in July 2010 intially for up to 70 positions, with training offered at both Oxford and CTC. The program will operate two distinct streams, with a three month Advanced Cadet (AC) program for existing CPL holders who have an instrument rating, and the 18 month long Ab-initio Cadet (AIC) program for candidates who have little or no flying experience, “but meet Jetstar’s requirements for aptitude, quality and safety to enter a comprehensive training and development program.”

Under the agreement reached between the two flying schools, the initial years of the program will see students split between OAA and CTC, which will allow for benchmarking between the two flying schools. Both organisations are headquartered in the UK, where they have been providing similar programs for European airlines for a number of years.

Students will have to be 17 years or older to apply and have completed a minimum Year 12 or equivalent in English, mathematics and one science subject. Cadets will also have to nominate whether they choose to train with OAA in Melbourne or CTC in Hamilton, and selection will be based on assessment by both the flying school and Jetstar.

AC program students will be partially sponsored by Jetstar, with the remainder loaned by Jetstar and to be repaid once they start working as a First Officer. AIC students will have some funding from Jetstar and may have access to the federal government’s FEE-HELP scheme, but will also be expected to

OAA’s AIC students will also complete an Associate Degree of Aviation through Swinburne University. According to Swinburne’s dean of Engineering and Industrial Sciences, Professor John Beynon, the program will draw on the long standing collaboration between OAA and Swinburne. “Combining the innovative Associate Degree of Aviation from Swinburne and Oxford’s extensive training capability from ab initio to type rating, the programme will produce pilot graduates ready for first officer positions with Jetstar Airways and with the educational requirements to develop their future careers,” he said.

Cadets will also progress more rapidly into flying jets compared to some other cadet schemes, as OAA’s managing director Anthony Petteford explained to Australian Aviation. “Qantas have run cadet programs, but they put them into second officer positions in their longhaul aircraft. What these programs do and mirror the European system, is take them in the right hand seat straight away. So 250 hours and they will be in the right hand seat of an Airbus A320.”

Much of the training will be tailored to reflect Jetstar’s operating procedures. The course will also include multi crew cooperation and jet operations courses, which will be completed before the cadet moves onto obtaining a type rating. For CTC students, this will be completed in the UK while OAA will conduct its type ratings in Hong Kong.

Upon entering service with the airlines, pilots will be bonded to Jetstar for six years and will pay back part of the cost of their training through a salary sacrifice system.

“Jetstar will offer a first in our region by equipping and fully qualifying graduates of our Cadet Pilot Training Program to fly as a Jetstar pilot as part of our experienced pilot group,” Jetstar chief pilot Captain Mark Rindfleish said.

“This is a big positive for our industry which we believe enhances the opportunities for people wanting a commercial aviation career by more effectively tapping into other talent pools, whilst supporting existing pilot training initiatives in our region,” said Rindfleish.

Jetstar and its training partners are also developing similar programs which will allow students from Vietnam and Singapore to undertake cadetships with a view to becoming First Officers at Jetstar Asia or Jetstar Pacific.

Jetstar CEO Bruce Buchanan told The Australian newspaper that the program would help to ease the drain that it and other fast growing airlines have had on the general aviation and regional airline sectors, but it would not be the only recruitment path. “We’ve never had any issue about taking pilots in from a variety of different sources and we still are now,” he said.