Air India is currently mulling over the idea of setting up an aviation university, which not only will provide various programs but will also act as a revenue stream for the national carrier in long term.
National carrier is currently exploring different options for improving its financial position and setting up an aviation university is one among them. In fact Air India is already exploring different option by which it can establish the aviation university.
The University will offer wide range of courses for pilots, cabin crew, operations and engineering staff etc. according to the statement from Air India official.
“We want to create a world class university and make it heavily commercial,” Air India CMD Ashwani Lohani told PTI.
The national carrier has also approached Educational Consultants India Ltd (EdCIL) to look at the possibility to convert its Central Training Establishment (CTE) in Hyderabad into a deemed-to-be- university. EdCIL would be studying the viability aspects and is expected to submit a report in “2 to 3 months”, Air India executive director (training) captain Amitabh Singh said.
However, it is still a plan and the final decision will be made after considering all the suggestions in the reports. Singh said that it will take almost 2 to 5 years to turn their Hyderabad based training center into university but once set up,any airline can utilize the services of the university and they will also be able to send the pilots for type rating i.e. training for specific type of aircraft.
According to initial plans, the university will only offer diploma courses and certificate courses and degree programs will be offered in due time.
“We have been able to train a lot of outside pilots who get an endorsement on our A 320 simulators. Later, they get jobs either with us or with other airlines,” Singh said, adding such a trend can be capitalized upon to generate additional revenues.