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career on one type! Ian would probably still be earning his living as a captain today, had his career not been cut short at the age of 31 by Type 1 diabetes. He did eventually win back a Class 1 medical, becoming the first UK ATPL holder to do so and pioneering a big change in the CAA’s attitude to the condition (there’s a great story here, but it will have to wait for another day) but at the time he branched off into training others, working for Oxford Aviation Academy and then CAE. Now he’s at Airways “to build the brand,” as he tells me.

Both Ian and Naveed are clearly determined that Airways is not going to be another ‘sausage factory’, churning out graduates who are not necessarily suited for the job market or even, in some cases, an airline career. Naveed had already told me that a good training organisation has

These days I seem to be doomed to visit Coventry Airport on dull, wet days — and today is no exception: the rain is coming down hard as I splash my way around the service road from the West entrance, looking for Airways House, home of Airways Aviation.

I am not sure quite what to expect — while Airways Aviation is long established, the UK operation is relatively new, the company taking over the assets of Atlantic Flight Training only last year, so am I going to see an outfit based in the usual airfield huts or something glossier and more up to date? Passing large, grey hangars and an airliner undergoing maintenance I arrive at a large car park and a smart, modern looking office block — aha; this is Airways House. At reception I am issued with a laminated pass and directed to a waiting area while my host for the day, Commercial

Manager Naveed Kapadia is summoned. In the short time it takes him to arrive, I take stock of my surroundings. The place has clearly been redecorated and spruced up very nicely in recent times — it looks good, and there’s a stack of nicely produced company brochures arranged in a rack by the seats — all very business-like and professional.

Naveed takes me upstairs to meet Ian Cooper, General Manager and Head of Training. Ian, it turns out, has had a very interesting career in aviation. As an airline pilot, he flew for Monarch and BA, and as he lists the varied types he’s flown I struggle to keep up: I scrawl down Dash 8, Embraer 145, A320, A321, 757 and 767 on my pad, hoping I’ve not missed anything. In any event, this is an impressively diverse list in 2015, when some pilots complain that they seem set to fly out their whole

Pilot visits global flight training provider Airways Aviation’s UK training facility at Coventry Airport

Words & Photos Philip Whiteman

Airways Aviation

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Photo: AIRWAYS AVIAtIoN

training. However – and this strikes me as being unusual and perhaps unique in the professional flight training industry – these individuals were refunded the full cost of the training they’d received to date. As Airways expects the attrition rate to be around four per cent (the average of universities is ten per cent, note) this seems to be an honourable way of treating

to have the courage to say no to candidates it knows will not make the grade. Indeed, Ian has had to make hard decisions about one or two of the students, who had passed all the aptitude and psychometric tests and started their training, washing them out when they failed to make the grade in basic flight

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Airways graduate Craig Turnbull

Airways graduate James Peach

Ian Cooper, General Manager and Head of Training

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I needed to have a punt at something I could do forever — James Peach

I sold everything I had: I didn’t want to rely on anybody else — Craig Turnbull

complete turnaround,” they agree. Today they do not hesitate in recommending the school.

Signing up with AFT in June 2013, James had completed 35 hours of a PPL and Craig already had an NPPL under his belt. Both had previous jobs and prospective careers outside aviation: Craig worked in the oil and gas industry, James was an

Army radio operator. They were both highly motivated and determined to be as self-sufficient as possible. “I sold everything I had – I didn’t want to rely on anybody else,” says Craig. “I was living the high life,” admits James, “but became a poor person — I had the dream car, the dream motorbike and all those things, but they had to go. I needed to have a punt at something I could do forever.”

Interestingly, neither of them found the infamous instrument flight test as daunting as it is generally regarded to be. “We were well prepared for it,” they agree — which reflects well on the standard of training. Being an earlier intake, both had done their entire training at Coventry, where they had appreciated the demanding air

failed students. With locations around the world, Airways is able to offer a carefully structured course, its ‘Elite Pathways Programme’. In essence, it starts with ground school at Coventry, moving on to basic flight training in DA40 singles at the company’s fair-weather base, Huesca in Spain. Students then return to Coventry for their advanced flight training, flying ‘multi-engine’ in DA42 twins, operating in a busy ATC environment and perhaps more typical European weather! At Coventry they also undergo upset prevention and recovery training. Finally, the Multi-Pilot Foundation Jet Course is completed completed on either a Boeing 737 or Airbus A320 simulators at training partner EPST facility in the Netherlands.

At the moment, Airways has 63 students on the books. Current capacity is 120 and there are plans to expand to offer places for 200. To put this in context, Airbus and Boeing are predicting a requirement for 500,000 new pilots over the next twenty years. While he sees there will be a demand, Ian is not sure how it will pan out. “It’s all about timing,” he smiles. “However, we know there are periods of stagnation and we offer our graduates recurrent training at cost, to help while they are looking for jobs.”

On this subject, Ian has some wise advice for jobless pilots in general. “Even working as cabin crew helps you keep current in the airline environment. The thing to avoid is hour-building for its own

sake – it’s much better to become an instructor.”

It will cost you £89,980 and take 65 weeks to complete an integrated training course with Airways Aviation. You will emerge with a frozen ATPL and 210 hours total time (excluding any flying you may have done outside the course). The company does offer modular training, but

the vast majority of its students – eighty per cent – opt for the integrated route.

Naveed is keen for me to meet two of Airways Aviation’s recent graduates. Bidding farewell to Ian, I am taken to the admin office and introduced to James Peach and Craig Turnbull. Naveed could be forgiven for selecting graduates who had sailed straight into jobs, but it quickly becomes clear that while James has landed one with Ryanair, Craig is still looking. Both of them are candid about their training experience, first with Atlantic Flight Training and then, after the takeover, with Airways. It is plain to see that there have been major improvements; “we may have been naïve in our original choice, but since Airways took over in 2014 it’s been a

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CFI Rob Cole

Airways Aviation is focussing on delivering industry ready pilots...

Photo: NAVeed kAPAdIA

traffic environment and challenging weather – “after this, you are ready for anything!”

The part of the course both had struggled with was the ground school – not so much because it was intellectually challenging or not taught well, just because of the sheer volume of material. “There are days I wanted to cry,” says James “especially when it was double general navigation…” It all came good in the end, because now both Craig and James strike me as competent and confident young pilots with a balanced outlook on life and a truly professional demeanour. I’d certainly be happy to be flown by either of them, and they are a credit to Airways Aviation.

Finally, I am introduced to Chief Flying Instructor Rob Cole. Rob has had the task of repositioning Airways Aviation’s DA40 fleet to the new location in Spain — no wonder he has a ready smile today. There is one more of the five aircraft to ferry out

excellent handling characteristics and notable fuel economy.

My visit concludes with a visit to one of the sims, where once again I am impressed with how ready they are to demonstrate the hardware and the openness and honesty with which Airways Aviation’s staff address my questions. You can see that this flight training school is far from being another sausage machine, and you can see why it is on the way up!

there, leaving the three DA42 twins at Coventry. These are supported by two FNPT2 instrument flight training simulators with matching G1000 glass panels. Rob believes the G1000 is an excellent lead-in to the airliner cockpit, “although the excellent AI display can be a distraction to students when they are supposed to be doing visual handling!” Generally, Rob has nothing but praise for the DA40 and DA42 as training aircraft — especially their

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Training on the simulator

Airways Aviation’s DA40 and DA42 fleet is fully equipped with G1000 glass cockpits

Both Craig and James strike me as competent and confident young pilots — a credit to Airways Aviation

Photo: AIRWAYS AVIAtIoN

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