New Training

The biggest sign of its commitment to the industry came on September 1 when PWA officially opened a new hangar facility for its Aerospace Training Centre (ASTC) at Perth’s Jandakot Airport, which will carry on a long standing legacy of aviation training.

“We’ve been training aviation since 1957, being predominately aircraft maintenance training back then,” director of the Aerospace Training Centre Chris McKie told Australian Aviation. “Since then we’ve moved into pilot studies and more recently, into airport and airline management programs. ” For most of that time, the training was conducted at Midland TAFE. With the aviation studies discipline growing ever larger with more courses and students, the decision was made to separate that training into its own centre as part of a wider move towards iconic delivery areas within Polytechnic West, which is the new name for Swan TAFE.

Another factor was the changes to aircraft maintenance licensing and the needs of industry. “A couple of years ago industry approached our executive and explained how the world is changing significantly, and although we had been delivering for 50 years, it’s now at a point where they’ve got glass cockpits, composites, and a new licensing regime and which need to be all over,” explained McKie.

In that context, in 2008 PWA established the business plan for the Aerospace Training Centre in association with industry stakeholders. This was extensively supported by the WA government, which provided funding for the acquisition of a number of key training aids and facilities.

One of the biggest moves has been from Midland to a dedicated training centre at Jandakot Airport in Perth’s south. That saw it buy a large aircraft hangar at the airport in 2009, which has now been fitted with lecture rooms and computer labs while retaining its hangar function.

There has also been a major investment in aircraft for the centre which are used as training aids, including a Beechcraft Baron and a Robinson R22, while a Cessna 340 was donated last year. The biggest acquisition so far has been a former OzJet Boeing 737‑00, which arrived on a one way journey to Jandakot in April this year. The arrival itself was quite an event, being the largest aircraft ever to have landed at the general aviation airport.

The 737 will play a major role in meeting the requirements of CASA’s new scheme for licensed aircraft maintenance engineers and technicians. While it is an older type, McKie notes that it features new technology such as TCAS II and Mode S transponders, and although it is unlikely to ever fly out of Jandakot, it will be kept in an airworthy condition.

While a major factor in the purchase of the aircraft was to meet the new licensing requirements for its aeroskills students, it will also play a large role in the other courses that the centre offers. “There’s no point just getting the aircraft maintenance guys working on it, let’s use it in all its glory,” said McKie.

It is therefore expected that students across the different training streams will have some form of interaction with the aircraft, with ground operations students likely to use it to practice aircraft loading, while pilots will use the cockpit for familiarisation.

Similarly, with a fully equipped galley and two class configuration, upcoming cabin crew courses are expected to utilise the 737 to immerse students in a realistic working environment.

The variety of aircraft provides the centre with a flexible base to meet the training needs of different industry sectors. This ispart of a deliberate attempt to ensure that students at the centre have a clear job outcome when they finish their training. “We don’t particularly want a ‘bums on seats’ mentality,” said McKie.

Rather, he said the focus is on being able to offer the courses required by industry when they need them. “It’s opening up to anything, rather than being limited to whats in our brochures. We can tailor training to what industry needs and we have good people to be able to deliver it as well,” he added.

Naturally, this sees PWA constantly in dialogue with various local aviation businesses to understand their training and skills requirements. “Weekly we have discussion with industry in some form where they are able to make suggestions and provide opportunities for us, and we will accommodate those if we can,” said McKie.

There is also an industry advisory board which meets regularly to provide input to the centre’s development. It includes representatives from local airlines, GA operators, Perth Airport and also defence contractors, and is currently chaired by BAE Systems’ Pearce site manager Mark Bates.

“It’s a good group, and it’s all about strategy and providing what the industry wants,” said McKie.

Like many other aviation training centres and TAFEs around the country, a key focus of the ASTC is on offering a range of certificate courses in aeroskills and aviation theory. However, in meeting the needs of the local industry, it has also expanded its offerings to include qualifications in areas such as airport management and aviation ground handling.

McKie said that has been driven by the needs of local operators, as well as being an area of differentiation against other training organisations. “We need pilots, but that’s the market that everyone’s in.

We need engineers and we continue to support that because that meets our local industry needs, but we also need to find out what else is going on. ” In addition to its focus on providing training for local companies, the ASTC is also taking advantage of the established networks of PWA to branch out into the international market. Already, it has a number of students from Asia, Africa and Europe.

McKie says that he takes the same approach to dialoguing with industry overseas as he does locally. “The number of airports in China will grow significantly over the next 20 years, and in India where an aviation city is being developed, so there’s a lot of work going on that we’re here to support,” he said.

As a result, the centre sees major international appeal for its airport management and ground operations courses, particularly from the Asian region. “China’s growth in airports is huge over the next 20 years plus, and in India where they’re growing an aviation city, so there’s all this work going on that we’re here to support,” he said.

In addition, PWA is able to ‘dual badge’ some of its qualifications to allow overseas students to study in Australia and gain a qualification which will be recognised elsewhere. “For example, if we have an Indian or Malaysian student, they can come in, do their qualification here and receive dual qualification so they can seek employment,” said McKie.

Another key focus for the ASTC is on delivering higher education to meet the needs of both local and foreign students, including those who are already involved in the industry. In response to that need, this year saw it begin offering associate degree qualifications across disciplines such as aeronautics, management and maintenance engineering.

“We’ve had some interest from people in industry who want to do something different, particularly ground operations staff who are looking to move into management,” said McKie.

One of the key advantages of those associate degree programs is the ability to bridge straight into university. “We’ll also look at other articulation arrangements as well to get them into other higher education opportunities,” said McKie.

In the short to medium term, McKie said that there are plans to make some changes to its courses, while new ones are also set to come on board. “We have got a couple of new qualifications coming on board. We identified earlier this year where students were headed after completing our qualifications, and some didn’t necessarily have an aviation job so we’ve changed that. ” Some of those changes include offering broader scope within some of their existing streams to give students more flexibility, as McKie explained. “For something like a pilot studies theory program, if a student doesn’t finish their CPL, what does that mean? We’ve now integrated operations type units into that which will commence next year, so if the student does finish and decides not to fly, at least they’ve got the opportunity to go further and gain a job in the operations of an airline or an airport. ” In addition to those changes, the centre is looking at offering new qualifications, with it already pointing to offering cabin crew qualifications in the near future, although intake will be dictated by the needs of the local industry. The course will also offer a major crossover with PWA’s hospitality courses, ensuring that even if students are not able to secure a job after the course, they will still be able to benefit from their training.

While the official opening of the new hangar facility on September 1 marked a major milestone, the tempo of work for the centre’s staff remains busy, particularly in preparing for new courses and the changes to maintenance skills licensing which are currently planned to take place mid next year.

“The next 12 months are going to be really busy still,” said McKie. “We’re really only just starting to catch up with getting everything sorted. Our development work will be completed next year and it should all be a fresh slate. ”