Following an announcement by Boeing last week, the International Bureau of Aviation (IBA) has estimated that in order to provide training for the projected one million new aviation professionals, to sustain the burgeoning growth of commercial aviation over the next 20 year period, an investment of over four billion USD will be required.

As a result of this global growing demand for pilots and skilled technicians, IBA has observed a significant rise in the requirement for expert aviation training related services. This investment is not only needed to improve and expand existing facilities in Europe and North America, but also to develop new centres of training in Africa and Eastern Asia over the next two decades. This is also a global issue as emerging economies seek to train their own pilots and engineers rather than persistently raid the supply of experienced European and US specialists.

Countries, regions, airlines or even existing training facilities frequently need assistance with the development of the right infrastructure and resources to ensure that they can attract and sustain candidates of the right calibre. IBA’s support has been instrumental in helping to build centres of excellence in Africa and the organisation offers a wide range of services to the global aviation training Industry. It regularly provides appraisals of flight simulators and training aircraft, as well as assisting schools and academies with their growth and development. This includes the preparation of business plans, right through to fleet replacement strategies.

Of particular benefit to those markets seeking to establish training protocols from scratch, the IBA team is able to advise fledgling aviation training academies on current procedures and practices, ensuring they are able to meet EASA Approved Training Organisation requirements and standards in all types of training, as well as meeting their economic and course number parameters.

Phil Seymour, President and Chief Operating Officer of IBA Group believes that this is a global issue, requiring dedication from aircraft manufacturers, airlines and Governments worldwide to work together to invest in the future of the industry: “Without properly trained pilots and engineers the predicted growth in commercial aviation will falter. It’s not just about the money needed to build the infrastructure and fund the professional instructors, it’s about having a long-term strategy that inspires young people to choose aviation as a career; then focuses on creating a mobile global workforce, trained to universally high standards and equipped with the knowledge and expertise that will contribute to successful and profitable airline businesses. Everyone is talking about this problem, it’s time to do something about it.”