Halifax, Nova Scotia-based Chorus Aviation Inc. is launching an aviation academy that will prepare cadets with an integrated Airline Transport Pilot Licence and aircraft type rating, all part of a 20-month program. Cygnet, as the academy is called, is a collaborative effort with CAE.
“We have long recognized the need to support the development of future pilots and we are thrilled to be working with a fantastic Canadian company like CAE to build an industry leading training centre in Canada,” Chorus’s CEO Colin Copp said in a press release. Chorus’s subsidiary Jazz Aviation is the sole provider of regional air services under the Air Canada Express brand.
The academy is based in Kingston, Ontario and is expected to attract individuals with little to no previous flight training. A fleet of Diamond aircraft will be used for flight training. After 18 months in Kingston, the cadets will move to a CAE training facility to complete a type rating, thus allowing them to directly enter into the right seat as first officer for an airline.
“As part of the program, cadets will train on CAE’s advanced full-flight simulators where they will acquire the skill and confidence to begin a career as a first officer,” said CAE’s Nick Leontidis of their civil aviation division. With over 13,000 employees in over 40 countries, Montreal-based CAE Inc. is the world’s largest supplier of advanced, full-flight simulators.