Paul Richfield/BATTLE CREEK
The first class of British Airways cadets has begun training at Western Michigan University (WMU) as part of the airline's drive to take on some 2,500 pilots over the next decade.
A second group of BA trainees will arrive at Michigan in May under the two year $6 million deal signed by BA last December. An optional third class is due in the fourth quarter. Two UK flight schools - Cabair College of Air Training and Oxford Air Training School - also provide ab initio training for BA.
Two-thirds of the 2,500 new hires will be "direct entry pilots", with the rest trained as cadets. The initial group of 16 arriving at Battle Creek, Michigan, in March will cost £65,000 each to train.
WMU has invested heavily in its aerospace sciences programme to attract customers, receiving $8.2 million in grants from the Kellogg Foundation - set up by the area's largest employer. Following UK Civil Aviation Authority approval of its programme last July, the school began training 16 self-sponsored students from the UK and Ireland. In January, 24 Aer Lingus cadets entered ab initio training at WMU.
Of the 33 flight instructors on the WMU payroll, nine are UK citizens dedicated to the CAA training curriculum. The 56-week course runs from 141h primary training in Cessna 172Rs through to aerobatics, simulator training and 10h of cockpit resource management.
BA cadets will complete four weeks of jet transition training at British Aerospace Flying College in Prestwick, Scotland, before joining the airline as first officers.
Source: Flight International
