Jetstar launches cadet pilot training program

Jetstar has launched a new cadet pilot training program in Australia and New Zealand to support the airline’s expanding pan-Asian operations.

The Jetstar Cadet Pilot Training Program has been developed in partnership with Oxford Aviation Academy Group, based in Moorabbin, and CTC Aviation Group plc, based in Hamilton, New Zealand.

The program will offer successful applicants – up to 70 in its first year – a career development path into Jetstar as an Airbus A320 pilot.

The Jetstar Cadet Pilot Training Program, which will accept its first intake of candidates in July 2010, aims to make a pilot career more accessible and affordable to skilled individuals through two distinct entry streams:

- Advanced Cadet Program (three months): successful candidates will hold a commercial pilot’s licence;

- Ab-initio Cadet Program (18 months): Successful candidates may have limited or no flying experience, but meet Jetstar’s requirements for aptitude, quality and safety to enter a comprehensive training and development program.

Short-listed applicants for the program will complete up to two days of joint OAA/Jetstar Skills Selection at Moorabbin which will involve a combination of computerised testing, psychometric profiling, simulator flight exercise, group exercises and individual interviews.

“We anticipate up to 20,000 applications for this attractive new program which seeks to remove some of the traditional barriers to becoming an airline pilot, demonstrating the high demand to enter this highly skilled and sought-after profession,” Jetstar Chief Executive Officer Bruce Buchanan said.

Both training courses will have the common foundation of a commercial pilot’s licence with multi-engine Command Instrument Rating achieved through training using EFIS-equipped aircraft, followed by a pioneering Multi-Crew Cooperation (MCC) and Jet Orientation Course (JOC) delivered on a new jet simulator in the OAA training centre Moorabbin, using specific Jetstar Standard Operating Procedures.

The cadets will then travel to the OAA Hong Kong centre to receive type endorsement training for the A320 aircraft before returning to commence aircraft line training and employment as First Officers with Jetstar.

The cadets enrolled upon the Ab Initio Cadet Pilot Program will also enrol in an Associate Degree program in partnership with the Swinburne University of Technology (SUT) based at the Hawthorn campus in Melbourne.

This program will provide for additional airline management, commercial, economic and operational skills.

Australian citizens will be able to access Australian Government FEE-HELP for the Associate Degree.

In addition to the MCC and JOC training, all cadets will receive five hours of ‘upset-recovery’ training in aerobatic aircraft, and will complete a comprehensive course of high-performance training in the EFIS-equipped BE90 Kingair.

The initial intake is now open with positions to be equally shared through both Oxford Aviation Academy and CTC over the initial years of the program.

Cadet applications can now be made directly through jetstar.com