Flight Training Academies Bear the Brunt of Pilot Training Needs

Flight academies and schools throughout the world are going to fill much of the need for pilots, which is projected to grow rapidly in the coming decades. Boeing projects a need for 26,660 new pilots per year during the next 20 years.

CAE says that its Global Academy is the world’s largest flight academy system, with 11 locations worldwide where new pilots are trained ab initio (from the beginning). CAE Global Academy produces about 1,800 new pilots per year at facilities in India, Malaysia, Australia, Canada, the U.S., Europe and Africa.

Three of Oxford Aviation Academy’s 10 training centers offer ab initio training and produce 400 to 500 new pilots each year. The FlightSafety Academy in Vero Beach, Fla., trains about 500 new pilots annually. Airline Transport Professionals in the U.S. has 26 locations and trains about 3,900 pilots per year (not all ab initio). Some other academies include CTC Aviation Training (New Zealand), 220 pilots; South African Flight Training Academy, 21 pilots; Baltic Aviation Academy, Lithuania, 48 pilots; and Australian National Airline College, 20 pilots.

This is just a sample of the many flight-training academies that are adding new pilots, but it is interesting to note that the largest facilities combined are producing less than 12 percent of the new pilots needed annually.