Summary:
- CAE launches Women in Flight scholarship programme to award up to five full annual scholarships for female pilots;
- With women currently representing less than 5% of pilots and instructors, CAE hopes to tap into a wider pool of talent while achieving greater diversity and a better gender balance;
- The objective of the programme is to also elevate selected candidates to become aviation role models and inspire even more women to join the pilot profession;
- CAE predicts a global requirement for 300,000 new pilots over the next ten years.
The scheme, launched at the Farnborough Air Show in the United Kingdom this week, hopes to encourage "passionate and exceptional women" to accomplish their goal of becoming professional pilots. Alongside covering their training costs the global leader in training for the civil aviation, defence and security, and healthcare markets, will also provide selected candidates with access to their first job through its global partners.
The Blue Swan Daily was at attendance at the launch of the scheme and CAE's Group president, civil aviation training solutions, Nick Leontidis, explained that the objective of the programme is also to elevate the selected candidates to become aviation role models and inspire even more women to join the pilot profession.
"With over 300,000 new pilots needed in the civil aviation industry over the next decade, and with women currently representing less than 5% of pilots and instructors, it is time to tap into a wider pool of talent," he said. "We are very proud to introduce the CAE Women in Flight scholarship programme, acting towards achieving greater diversity and a better gender balance."
By leveraging its strong and growing global training network and relationships with operators, CAE will provide aspiring female pilots direct access to numerous active pilot creation programmes around the world, facilitating their journey to the cockpit. "CAE is committed to promoting the pilot career to women, and making it accessible to exceptional women who may not have the financial means to make their dream a reality," explained Mr Leontidis.
The CAE Women in Flight scholarship program is part of a wider range of available CAE scholarships that promote pilot and aviation jobs in the aerospace industry. CAE offers more than 20 scholarships in various disciplines, including engineering, software engineer, computer science, aviation management, to women and men interested in a career in aviation around the world.
More details about the programme and the selection process will be unveiled in the upcoming months but CAE confirms eligible candidates can submit their applications on CAE's website from this autumn. Interested candidates can already subscribe to receive programme updates via the CAE website. It will run annually for an indefinite period with no timescale placed on ending the scheme.
Mr Leontidis confirmed applicants will be selected based on a range of criteria prioritising academic women with limited financial means, and which will include an assessment test in one of CAE's many training locations. "We want to make sure that each of the scholarships is successful and delivers a trained female pilot into the industry at the conclusion of the course," he added.
CAE predicts a global requirement for 40,000 additional business aviation pilots and 110,000 commercial aviation pilots over the next ten years simply for replacement with a further 10,000 business and 160,000 commercial aviation positions to fill over the same period to meet growth. All together that is a requirement of 300,000 recruits (around 20,000 business pilots are expected to transfer to commercial operation during this period) to grow the active pilot market to 530,000 by 2028.
"The big question is how do we develop more pilots, faster?" said Mr Leontidis. "Its about smarter pilot creation (assessing and selecting the right candidates and optimising the training footprint) and better recurrent training systems."
CAE is growing its training activity across the globe to support increasing demand. It has added more than ten new airline-sponsored pilot creation programs in last three years including expanding its Americas coverage with new programmes with Aeromexico and American Airlines launched this year. Earlier this year it also launched its newest pilot training innovation, CAE Rise, with its longstanding partner AirAsia, strengthening its instructors' ability to train more consistently to each airline's culture and reality and support the individual needs of its airline clientele.