A successful pathway to a world of future aviation opportunities lies in a revitalization of apprenticeships, a newly released manifesto from the British Business and General Aviation Association (BBGA) highlighted.
Kick-starting a campaign to encourage STEM for the new generation, BBGA is calling on government and the private sector to come together and create more successful initiatives such as that pioneered by Stansted Airport College, which has just enrolled 429 full-time trainees and 52 apprentices in its second year.
BBGA plans to work with the UK CAA to leverage its approach and steer a path toward innovative training for a global industry - to equip aviation’s workforce with skills on the ground, as well as in the air.
BBGA highlighted at a special Tomorrow’s Workforce event, that its first priority is to align with Aviation Strategy 2050 and quantify what the UK workforce needs over the next 30 years. Creating apprenticeships in a range of aviation services is the goal. It is also seeking development of all streams including flight operations, ground operations and airworthiness, mindful that business aviation per se does not feature in any syllabuses.
The urgent requirement for more commercial pilots is well known, but other roles in the less recognized ‘aviation services’ – in aircraft maintenance, ATC, ground and flight operations, are deteriorating as the UK faces a demographic cliff edge as the baby boomers retire.
Call for Centres of Excellence
With support from the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) under its Expanding Horizons initiative BBGA advocates dedicated aviation centers of excellence up and down the country. These would offer City and Guilds Level 2, 3, 4 and 5 on aviation services pathways where trainees would receive high quality training inhouse with assured work placements when ready.
Stansted Airport College – a case study
Stansted Airport College, opened in Sep. 2018 in a joint venture with Harlow College, is the first purpose built further education college at a major UK airport. It will see a further 138 graduate in June 2020 after 40 graduated in 2019.
Its curriculum offers pre-apprentice, apprenticeship and full-time programs, plus work-transition courses in a range of subjects including aircraft engineering, maintenance, aviation operations, cabin crew, hospitality and event management.
After a successful first year, with an average pass rate of 97 percent, college graduates have secured permanent jobs with apprenticeships at FlightWorx, Manchester Airport Group, Jet2, Ryanair, Kearsley Airways, GT Engines, Harrods Aviation, British Airways and AIM Composites.
This year it is delivering apprenticeship training for Ryanair, Tui, Harrods Aviation, Avalon Aero, Titan Airways, Inflite, CRS Technics, IMT Aviation, Sky Smart, ACS Aviation, GT Engines, Storm Aviation and Kearsley Airways.
“This year we have already received over 450 applications for future places,” says Karen Spencer, principal. “The college is nearly at capacity and will only have approximately 150 spaces next year. This partnership, developed with London Stansted Airport, is already making a difference to the future of aviation training and meaningful careers for young people.”
