Two more Seychellois make captain at Air Seychelles

AIR SEYCHELLES PROMOTE ‘LOCAL TALENT’

(Posted 17th September 2013)

Air Seychelles’ CEO Cramer Ball yesterday presented commander’s bars to First Officers Archille Young and Shiv Padayachy at the national airline’s head office which is located at the Seychelles International Airport. Captain Pete Mitchell, General Manager Operations, Captain Granger Narara, Head of Flight Operations, and training instructors Captain Sandy Benoiton, Chief Domestic Pilot, and Captain Eddie Cesar also attended the ceremony.

The new Twin Otter Commanders successfully completed the rigorous Company Command Upgrade Programme, which includes refresher training on aircraft technical elements, Crew Resource Management (CRM), leadership, decision-making and emergency procedures.

Chief Pilot, Captain Sandy Benoiton and Captain Eddie Cesar were trained and certified as flight instructors to the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) standard and are the first two Seychellois Captains to conduct Company Command Upgrade training in ten years.

Hailing from Anse Boileau, 24-year old Captain Archille Young, completed his A levels at the Seychelles Polytechnic at Anse Royale. He joined Air Seychelles in June 2010 and worked for 14 months at the Operations Control Centre before becoming a full time pilot on the Twin Otter as a First Officer. Captain Young is a Flight Safety Officer and a member of the Safety Action Group. He has also been trained in Flight Data Monitoring and Audits.

Captain Shiv Padayachy, who is 28 years old and hails from Anse Royale, completed his A Levels at the Seychelles Institute of Technology (SIT) at Mont Fleuri. He joined Air Seychelles in June 2011 and worked for six months at the Operations Control Centre before flying full time as a Twin Otter First Officer.

Both Captain Young and Captain Padayachy completed an18 month training as commercial pilots at the 43rd Air School in South Africa under scholarships from the Government of Seychelles, after having completed compulsory basic military training in Seychelles prior to joining the national airline.

Cramer Ball was quoted to have said on the occasion of handing the pilots their captain’s strips: ‘Achieving the rank of captain is a major milestone in any pilot’s career, and I am delighted to present Archille Young and Shiv Padayachy with their epaulettes to mark their passage to the rank of Commander. This is a major accomplishment at such a young age. Our Seychellois workforce is the future of the airline, and we are committed to its development, and to nurture that talent. I am particularly thrilled that the command training programme was conducted by our very own Seychellois pilots, Sandy Benoiton and Eddie Cesar’.

Air Seychelles presently employs 53 Seychellois pilots, 10 Airbus captains; 20 first officers; 14 Twin Otter captains, and nine Twin Otter first officers, a sign that developing local talent has taken deep roots in the airline.

Congrats to captains Archille and Shiv and happy landings, always.

(Air Seychelles CEO Cramer Ball with the two newly promoted Twin Otter captains)