‘India needs better standards in flight training’

Jeff Roberts, Group President, Innovation and Civil Training & Services, CAE, doesn’t get much time to fly aeroplanes. But flying still remains his first love, and it was to ensure that more Indian pilots get world-class training that he was recently in the Capital. “We have just concluded an agreement with the Government of India to provide pilot training in the two national flight academies — Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udan Akademi (IGRUA) and the Rajiv Gandhi National Flying Training Institute (RGNFTI). Starting with 200 students at each of the institutes in the first year, we expect the intake to go up to 1,000 students in the coming years,” says Jeff Roberts, group president, innovation and civil training & services, CAE.
CAE will transform both schools into centres of excellence for India, leading the Indian market in the delivery of a complete range of high-quality aviation training programmes. “These two academies, together with our upcoming training centre in Bangalore , will help address the urgent need for pilots throughout the region.”
With both IGRUA and RGNFTI becoming members of the CAE Global Academy, Roberts sees CAE’s activities in India growing.
His Canada-based company is a world leader in providing simulation and modelling technologies and integrated training solutions for the civil aviation industry and has been supplying the Indian aviation industry with training solutions.
15/03/08 Banasree Purkayastha/Financial Express