Co-op bank, Kenya Airways launch a pilot training partnership

By JOHN OYUKE

Co-operative Bank has partnered with Kenya Airways to finance a pilots training programme as network growth exerts more pressure on the airline.

Under the Ab Initio programme — the very first stage of flight training — trainee pilots would receive loans from the bank to facilitate the course.

The national carrier and largest local airline has been keen on training Ab Initio pilots and has in the past funded the training.

The airline said the trainee pilots would enrol for a 27-month training course at a leading aviation school in South Africa.

"We are grateful to Kenya Airways for granting us this opportunity to empower Kenyans to become successful in this prestigious career," said the bank’s Managing Director, Gideon Muriuki.

Kenya Airways Chief Executive Officer, Titus Naikuni on his part, noted that the airline had so far successfully recruited, trained and employed 146 pilots through the programme.

"To ensure that Kenya Airways continues to meet the demands that our network expansion is continually exerting on crew and capacity, we continue to expand our fleet of aircraft as we recruit and train crew to match these demands," he said.

Naikuni said since 2004, the carrier has increased pilots from 184 to 352, a 91 per cent growth in line with the airline’s growth strategy.

increased flights

The partnership comes at a time when there is an extremely high demand for pilots in the industry and when the airline is exploring avenues of increasing frequencies in and outside the continent.

The development comes a week after Prime Minister Raila Odinga brokered a deal to double the airline’s flights to India following a request presented by his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh.

He asked the Indian government to allow KQ to have direct flights from Nairobi to New Delhi and help the carrier increase the number of flights from Nairobi to Mumbai from the current seven to 14, saying such a move would boost the local tourism sector.

Mr Singh said he would take steps to ensure Kenya Airways gets its wish and pledged to help Kenya get land to put up a Chancery building in New Delhi, according to statement from Raila’s office.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects airline passenger traffic to grow by 5.1 per cent between now and 2011.

IATA says to meet the rising demand, 19,000 pilots would need to be trained each year until 2026. It is estimated flight schools currently crank out around 16,000 annually.

grace period

Co-operative bank, the financier of the training programme, will provide Sh324 million as a revolving fund from which, each pilot is expected to draw Sh5.4 million as a loan to finance the course.

The loan, according to the partnership deal, is to be repaid over a period of 96 months after a grace period of 27 months. After the training, KQ guarantees permanent employment to every pilot that successfully completes the course.

To secure the facility, Kenya Airways said it had signed a specific guarantee with the Bank committing to act as the guarantor.

To mitigate the inherent risks, the company has undertaken an insurance policy with CIC Insurance against any default in loan repayment in case of death; critical illness, permanent disability and exam failure of the Ab initio pilot.