TAG Aviation Asia (TAA) has opened a newtraining facility in Hong Kong. Its modern design and advanced training aids aim to provide quality simulator training to every customer and participant trainee.
TAA is also the first business aircraft management company in the region to offer training services that include a physical Airbus A320 over-wing exit door trainer. Built by EDM, the trainer is tailored to airline specifications and the certification process for its use as an approved training device is under way. It is available for third party training.
As part of TAA’s safety training syllabus, participants will have the opportunity to remove the 19.5-kilogram (43-pound) heavy over-wing exit door and practice emergency egress based on realistic training scenarios.
To provide training for the entire flight crew, the company also installed a customized aircraft galley and table mockup to offer participants a realistic “silver service experience” to refine their operational skills.
Cadet Pilot Program
TAA also offers its Cadet Pilot Program, aimed at training pilots for its business aviation operations in Hong Kong. Three pilot trainees are now at various stages of the program, which announced in July 2017.
Training takes place at Flight Training Adelaide (FTA), based in Adelaide, South Australia. FTA is perhaps best known as the long-time ab initio flight training provider to various airlines, including Cathay Pacific, Cathay Dragon (formerly Dragonair), China Airlines, Cebu Pacific, QantasLink, Virgin Australia, IndiGo, and others. TAA’s program runs on a similar syllabus and footprint.
The program includes accommodation, allowances, ground and flight training up to the level of a commercial pilot, TAA director of operations Ray Wilson told AIN. TAA provides oversight with management visits to the school and receives monthly reports on each cadet. Once the cadets obtain their CPL, they continue on to get an instructor rating at FTA, followed by a three-year tenure as a flight instructor there, where they gain experience and advanced ratings (IFR, multi-engine, and aerobatic) "with the aim of returning to Hong Kong with an ATPL and at least 1,500 hrs,” he said.
The next step in the plan is to have the cadets placed as cruise relief pilots at various airlines for two years, Wilson said. “This will help expose them to international operations, give them an opportunity to gain more hours [a major stumbling block for progression in business aviation due to usually low utilization of aircraft], and cement a structured operating philosophy before they return and are eligible to fly on our aircraft as first officers,” added Wilson.