Air India deliberate on setting up of aviation varsity

The institution offers a range of aviation training programmes for pilots, cabin crew, operations and engineering staff, among others.

New Delhi, April 9: Air India is mulling establishing an aviation university for providing various programmes that can also be an additional revenue stream for it in the long term.

The national carrier, which is working on ways to improve its financial position, has already started exploring various options for having a university, airline officials said.

"We want to create a world class university and make it heavily commercial," Air India CMD Ashwani Lohani said.

The national carrier has also approached Educational Consultants India Limited to look at the possibility to convert its Central Training Establishment in Hyderabad into a deemed-to-be-university. EdCIL would be studying the viability aspects and is expected to submit a report in "2 to 3 months", Air India Executive Director Training Capt Amitabh Singh said.

According to Singh, it would take '2 to 5 years' to turn the Hyderabad training centre into a deemed university depending on the viability. "Any airline can utilise our resources once the university is set up. They can also send their pilots for type rating training for specific aircraft type," Lohani said.

As per the initial plans, the university would offer diploma and certificate courses. In due course, degree programmes could also be offered, Singh said.

"We have been able to train a lot of outside pilots who get an endorsement on our A320 simulators. Later, they get jobs either with us or with other airlines," Singh said, adding such a trend can be capitalised upon to generate additional revenues.

PTI