Kenya’s National carrier Kenya Airways has signed a deal with United States based firm FlightSafety International for the training of pilots at its low cost subsidiary Jambojet in a move aimed towards boosting the safety of its operations.
The deal comes at a time when the carrier has reportedly lost more than 100 of its highly trained pilots and engineers to Middle East Airlines as a result of poor pay. This is according to Business Daily.
Kenya Airways had in the past, blamed the attrition to poaching of skilled staff by Middle East airlines, which has been luring the national carrier’s highly trained specialists with their offers which involve lucrative perks and much higher salaries.
Under the new deal, Kenya Airways will procure an in-house simulator for the Dash 8-400 aircraft used by its budget carrier Jambojet.
The simulator will be installed at the Kenya Airways Pride Center in Nairobi.
Simulators provide real life flying scenarios through the recreation of an aircraft flight and the environment in which it flies.
The Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at FlightSafety; Steve Gross said, “Jambojet and other airlines that operate the aircraft will benefit from having local access to the simulator.”
Steve Gross stated that the move will also help Kenya Airways cut the costs of training its pilots, as regional airlines like Kenya Airways often take their pilots overseas for refresher training whenever new fleets are acquired.
According to Mr. Gross, “It will help to increase proficiency by enabling pilots to train more often and reduce overall training costs,” said Mr Gross.
The United States Firm; FlightSafety, made it known that the simulator will be inspected by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority after its installation and before its use.
The Firm made it known that the new deal will be FlightSafety’s first installation of a full flight simulator for the aircraft in Africa, adding that it is expected to boost the training of the airline’s pilots amid mounting scrutiny of the safety of regional airlines.
The outgoing Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Kenya Airways; Sebastian Mikosz said, “The number of Q400s in Africa is growing, with a limited number of simulators to support the training. The estimated number of Q400 aircraft in Africa is over a hundred being served by only 3 simulators. The agreement is a step forward in building the capacity of our training.”
Dash 8-400 planes which are a favourite with low cost regional carriers like Jambojet, are manufactured by De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited.
The airline’s maintenance teams will also benefit greatly from the trainings.
FlightSafety, is an aviation company which delivers professional world class training to operators of business, regional and commercial aircrafts.
The company, views safety as a promise and commitment and was founded in 1951.
FlightSafety boasts of 320 full flight simulators and advanced training devices in its Learning Centers, more than 1,000 visual systems and advanced training devices delivered to airlines, governments as well as military agencies, and more than 800 full flight simulators manufactured for deliveries around the world.
