As some international airlines suffer from pilot shortage, Christopher Gooding, co-founder and a director of the Aeronautical School of the West Indies at the Tinson Pen Aerodrome in St Andrew, is urging Jamaicans to gear up to fill that gap by taking advantage of flight training programmes offered at the institution.

Gooding said it is now time to see more Jamaicans benefiting from the aviation sector, especially the private sector which relies heavily on cargo from overseas.

He said that the aeronautical school currently has the approval of the Civil Aviation Authority to train students to become private pilots. In early 2022, Gooding expects the institution will receive approval to offer instrument and commercial training, as well as aircraft maintenance training.

“We would like to see the day when most of the planes coming into Jamaica are being flown by Jamaican pilots. We would love more Jamaicans to train to be pilots in Jamaica rather than going overseas.

“What this school is offering currently is the private pilot flight training programme. We are in the process to getting approval to do instrument and commercial training for persons who would like to obtain their commercial pilots’ licence. We are also in the process of getting approved to instruct in aircraft maintenance and engineering,“ said Gooding.

He added: “Now is the ideal time to start training because to become a commercial pilot can take anywhere between 18 and 24 months. If you start your training now, just when your training is coming to a close, the industry would be closer to recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and the demand for pilots would be increased.”

According to a September 7 story by popular international travel website travelweekly.com, some United States airline operators worked to catch up on training new pilots, due to many their experienced pilots taking leave during the worst days of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Some airlines have been further affected by pilots taking advantage of early retirement packages.

Travelweekly.com also reported that the industry has seen growth but struggles with a reduction in military-trained pilots who usually could be quickly hired. The website pointed out that the airline industry was struggling before the pandemic and pulled on statistics from a research by the University of North Dakota who indicated that the US had a shortage of 3,500 commercial pilots in 2020.

Having received approval this year to train persons as pilots, an excited Gooding shared that the Aeronautical School of the West Indies now has 40 students undergoing ground school, where they become familiar with the theory of aviation while seven additional students are on the flight line.

After signing up and paying the $US12,000 in fees, students receive five to seven months of private pilots’ training .

“Some persons take as much as 24 months to get their private pilot’s licence. We can provide them with that within five to seven months. After you have obtained your private pilot’s licence, you move on to time building. You would need to obtain some experience before you can move into the instrument and commercial training.

“We offer that time building experience as well. You can rent the aircraft and go flying. We would have trained you and we would trust you to do so. We also offer aircraft rentals for those who want to do time building. We also offer a pilot for the day programme where individuals who have, or had, interest in aviation and would like to become a pilot or experience what it is like to become a pilot can come and do that programme or take an experienced flight with us,” said Gooding who said he has 18 year’s experience in aircraft maintenance and engineering.