Air India is soon going to establish an Aviation University to provide the several programmes which can be additional revenue stream in the long term. It is a way to improve the financial position of the airlines. Air India airline officials said that they already started exploring the various options for having a university. The idea is to have an institution that offers a range of aviation training programmes for pilots, cabin crew, operations and engineering staff, among others.
Air India CMD Ashwani Lohani said that they want to create a world class university and make it heavily commercial. Educational Consultants India Ltd (EdCIL) has also been approached to look at the possibility to convert its Central Training Establishment (CTE) in Hyderabad into a deemed-to-be-university.
Air India Executive Director (training) Captain Amitabh Singh said that EdCIL would be studying the viability aspects and is expected to submit a report in two to three months. After going through the suggestions in the report, a final decision would be taken.
It would take two to five years to turn the Hyderabad training centre into a deemed university depending on the viability. Mr. Lohani said that any airline can utilise their resources (once the university is set up). They can also send their pilots for type rating (training for specific aircraft type). Initially, the university would offer diploma and certificate courses. In due course, degree programmes could also be offered, Singh said.
The CTE has three A320 simulators for pilot training and an ATR 72-600 simulators would be inducted in September. For the last few years, CTE has been giving training to pilots from outside of Air India also. Singh stated that they have been able to train a lot of outside pilots who get an endorsement on our A320 simulators. Later, they get jobs either with us or with other airlines.