ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES TO TRAIN ANOTHER 48 PILOT ASPIRANTS
Information was received over the weekend from Addis Ababa that Ethiopian Airlines has partnered with a Canadian company to create a new pilot training programme, which is in its first phase aimed to turn out 24 first officers for the Bombardier Q 400 aircraft, a turboprop commuter plane used for domestic and short regional routes, and another 24 for the ‘workhorse’ B737-800 which serves many of ET’s regional and continental routes from their Addis Ababa hub.
The new ‘project’ will go underway at the beginning of Q4 this year at Ethiopian Airlines’ own training centre in Addis and is likely to run for about 1 ½ years before the first batch of successful graduates can join active flying duty as co-pilots.
Ethiopian’s Aviation Academy is one of three such international quality facilities known by this correspondent on the African continent, besides the training centres owned and operated by the national airlines of South Africa and Kenya, all aimed to train up much needed additional pilots to facilitate growing fleets, flight frequencies and destinations. Well done ET!
