By Dayna Fedy-MacDonald | August 17, 2023 Estimated reading time 7 minutes, 26 seconds.
Ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) Flair Airlines is aiming to secure a pipeline of new pilots with the launch of a new cadet program in partnership with Genesis Flight College and pilot training expert, Canada Training Solutions (CTS Aero).
During a press conference on Aug. 17, Flair president and CEO Stephen Jones said the program’s objective is to train pilots to become first officers on the airline’s fleet of Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft within 18 months.
In the face of a pilot shortage, Jones said Flair is thinking “differently about the problems that the [aviation] industry faces. Developing a proper channel of pilots that are equipped to fly modern aircraft is what we need.”
It’s estimated that by 2029, there will be a shortage of 15,000 to 20,000 pilots in North America, noted Flair’s cadet program lead, Grey Cooper.
“In the last 10 years, there’s been a drastic change with increased retirements, and through Covid we saw three years where the flight schools were not putting out the same amount of pilots,” he added.
“One of the reasons [for the shortage] is that we’re not getting the word out there. As part of this program, we’re going to give young people — or anyone — who want to work in a professional, passionate, and prideful environment an opportunity to see an end goal to get into an airline environment in an 18-month period.”
The cadet program is particularly significant for Flair as the airline is aiming to reach 50 aircraft by the 2026-2027 timeframe. (The original target of 2025 was pushed due to slowed growth this year.) Flair currently operates a 20-aircraft fleet, comprised of 18 737 Max 8s and two 737-800s, according to the Canadian Civil Aircraft Register. Jones noted earlier this year that each new plane represents some 50 new jobs.
The airline said in a press release that while similar pilot training programs already exist in Europe, “this is one of the first programs of its kind in North America to train pilots ab initio to join as first officers on large narrowbody aircraft.”
The Flair Airlines Cadet Program selected Gensis Flight College of Collingwood, Ontario, as its partner thanks to the school’s “high level of innovation” and modern equipment.
Genesis president and CEO David Gascoine said the flight school operates the largest fleet of Diamond DA40 aircraft in Canada, which feature flight management technology that is “similar to modern jets.” The DA40 platform at Genesis is combined with full function, mixed-reality flight simulators and an evolved curriculum — which is the product of three years of collaboration with CTS Aero.
Flair has been in talks with CTS Aero for the past year “to make sure [the new cadet] program is precisely modified to develop the exact kind of pilot that Flair needs,” said the company’s president, Garrett Lawless.
While anyone may apply to the program, each candidate will undergo “rigorous aptitude testing” before being accepted. Lawless noted that what sets Flair’s cadet program apart from similar programs is the cognitive training that successful candidates will complete.
“The targeted cognitive training specifically trains cognitive endurance, decision making, and the ability to process very large amounts of information quickly so that a right decision can be made,” he said. “This allows pilots to develop a situational awareness much more quickly than they would otherwise be able to.”
Once accepted into the program, candidates will begin their initial private pilot training, which will integrate some of Flair’s procedural applications, noted program lead Cooper.
“Then they will do their commercial multi-engine and IFR [instrument flight rules] training,” he continued. “That’s what I call going from grade school to high school, where they’re really going to learn all the technical details of flying in the instrument flight world.”
The final part of the program involves something called multi-crew cooperation, or MCC, “and that’s where this program is really going to excel,” said Cooper. “CTS has developed the highest quality MCC program in North America, and that will be supported with top level flight training devices and flight simulators. . . . Once they’ve completed that, they’ll be ready to join the airline’s team to finish their type rating on the 737.”
Noteworthy is the fact that the program will employ a 737 Max Level 6 flight training device. “What that means is the students will actually train in this course in a flight simulator that exactly replicates the aircraft that they’re going to be flying within the airline,” explained CTS Aero’s Lawless.
Flair’s cadet program will welcome its first cohort of aspiring pilots in January 2024. The program expects to initially graduate 10 “top-quality airline-ready pilots,” with the goal to expand after the first cohort.
“We’re a fast-growing airline,” said Jones. “We’ve got unbelievably good operational performance at the moment; we’ve had the best on-time performance right through the summer with very high load factors, and we want people to come and join the team and be part of that growth.”
To apply for the Flair Airlines Cadet Program and review the program curriculum, click here.
Either I missed it or they failed to include the part where the program costs $145,000, plus 15,000 if you need extra time.
Yah… This doesn’t make much sense, spend $145,000+. . Then only make 73,000 pre tax. You’d have to work 2 years without food/hydro or accommodation, just to break even… and that’s not including the 18 months off your life that you’d already given. So 42 months free labour? To have an average paying job? What am I missing ?
18 months and absolutely no experience whatsoever. Driving will be safer!
Was once again hoping this was a training program where the company covers the cost of your training and in return to sign on with them for x amount of years to pay it back. Like they do in other countries. Was once again disappointed. For anyone with aspirations of being a pilot, you can save about $80, 000 by doing modular training at a flight school on your own. $160k is insane. If a bank will give you a loan for $160k you probably shouldn’t switch careers.
How many pilots think this will lead to safe, experienced pilots carrying over a hundred passengers in a high performance, high demand situation?
So, other than a kind of conditional promise of a job after completing the training (which the student pays for) why would someone sign up for this program? This is not what a typical cadet program is like from a military or law enforcement perspective, the cadets are paid and their training is paid for and paid back by the cadet in terms of years of service to the employer.
This program seems more like a cash grab at $145k per student.
So with accommodations + 18 months of food supply, we are talking over 200 000$ while Canada is considered a third world country regarding airline pilot’s salaries.
Airline growth on behalf of rich kids dreams…
How about raising the price of airfares and slow down this flying madness? No no no, everyone needs their selfies around this polluted Globe!
And Flair wonders why they can’t find pilots. With this kind of mentality and readiness to scam people for $50,000 just for an education, I’m scared to ask how you treat your staff once they’re in a contract with you. A commercial Pilot license costs maybe $100,000 from nothing- this is nothing more than a money grab against naive kids with dreams of being a pilot. DONT GO THIS ROUTE