THE Aeronautical School of the West Indies just recently received accreditation to offer commercial pilot training and licences in Jamaica, and is already looking to expand its offerings even further by teaching people how to make a living from flying drones.

During an interview with the Jamaica Observer recently, Gari Tomlinson, co-founder of the St Andrew-based institution, said he wishes to bring Jamaicans up to speed with drone technologies, allowing them to capitalise on the great earning potential emerging and the already-existing markets.

“We will also be launching a drone course to teach people how to fly drones and make money. Key areas of that emerging market are real estate, land surveying, drone photography and cinematics. That technology is fast improving and it is an industry now where the applications are growing and where there is real opportunity for people to make money,” Tomlinson said, highlighting that the training isn’t expensive but carries great rewards.

He alluded that there is a wide range of videos and pictures that drones are best at capturing and said that the Aeronautical School of the West Indies’ cinematics course will coach people on how to tell a story with images and videos. Being able to do this will open doors for them in areas of film and audio visual industries, as well as on social media.

“There are a lot of people who make money blogging and vlogging and just showing their life or reporting on things that are interesting to other people. They can add this to their skill set. We are aiming to start this programme in September.

“Also, we are going to offer a course where, if you already have a private pilot’s licence, you can get drone rating attached to it and that would be a Federal Aviation Administration drone rating. You can get all of this without leaving the shores of Jamaica.

“We are also going to have a hobbyist course. A drone is an expensive investment that can cost you car money if you get the latest and the best, or even more. For somebody who buys this expensive equipment and you want to have insurance against you crashing it, we are going to do a short hobbyist course where you can come in and practise and we would teach you the manoeuvre and how to fly,” Tomlinson informed.