The aviation industry and aviation education are seeing an upward swing in India. With high-paying jobs and a growing market, the change will be extensive in the next ten years, experts predict. At this juncture, several students are asking themselves a question — how about making aviation engineering a career?
GMR Aero Technic, Hyderabad the leading airframe maintenance MRO in Asia Pacific is preparing to start its School of Aviation in technical collaboration with Airbus in September 2023. It was in 2021, the Minister of Civil Aviation, Government of India, Shri Jyotiraditya Scindia, laid the foundation stone of the new building at the Special Economic Zone of the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad.
Over a luncheon interview with EdexLive, President and Accountable Manager of GMR Aero Technic, Mr Ashok Gopinath, disclosed details of the upcoming school, its unique selling points, how the idea evolved and how this is going to be a game changer for the industry.
With over 30 years of expertise in aviation, Gopinath joined GMR Aero Technic (GAT) in 2017. Under his able leadership, the Maintenance, Repair, and Operations (MRO) of GMR Aero Technic, experienced remarkable growth and development in the industry.
Further, while taking a short ride around the school, he explained the infrastructure facilities and displayed the machinery for practical education to the students. The School of Aviation is being developed as a green-field project in two phases. The newly build facility is spread across 75,000 square feet on a four-acre campus.
In the first phase, around three acres of land are allocated for constructing administrative buildings, academic facilities, classrooms, workshops and a dedicated hangar to house an operating aircraft for practical training. Additionally, the School of Aviation is the first school globally to collaborate with Airbus.
Here is a quick look at the courses being offered:
Courses offered:
1) EASA - B1.1 and B2 Aircraft Maintenance Engineering licensing programme
2) DGCA - B1.1 and B2 Aircraft Maintenance Engineering licensing programme
3) Aircraft Specific Type Training Courses
4) Ancillary / Executive courses like Aircraft structures, Aircraft composite courses, Human Factors, Fuel Tank Safety, Safety Management Systems and so on
5) Domestic and International Degree Programs
USPs
- First of it’s a kind of integrated programme in India
- Students joining the EASA stream have opportunity to complete 2-year academic in the campus and 2-year on-job training in GMR Aero Technic MRO under EASA Part-145 environment. At the end of fourth year, they will be offered a type-course and have an opportunity to graduate with a EASA basic or a type-rated license..
- MRO owned school
- Placement opportunities in OEMs, MROs, Domestic and International airlines
- International collaborations
Excerpts from our conversation with Ashok Gopinath.
How did the School of Aviation come into action, could you disclose the details of its timeline
There are multiple aspects to the initiation of this project.
First is skill development. As India is a growing exporter of manpower, we lose talent pool to outside countries and this is a growing concern for us, to look for a skilled workforce.
Secondly, even though there are many aviation schools in the country, the problem of quality and adapting to a new culture of work are ever-present. Moreover, the standard quality was missing while recruiting which impacts work directly. Otherwise, if we recruit students coming from a different culture, it takes time to mould them to our processes, safety and quality standards.
Thirdly, there is no school owned by an MRO. Moreover, as the end user of the product within an MRO or an airline, we know exactly what we want and where practical learning is, required. We came up with the thought of setting up a school, which can meet the growing demand of the aviation sector boom in India. The start of the academic session is subject to certain regulatory approvals and global certifications, of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and DGCA approvals, which are planned in September.
These certifications and regulatory approvals go through a stringent due diligence process.
Now, about the courses which will be offered, integrated DGCA-147 and EASA-147, what do these courses cater to?
As a four-year licensed programme on 147 Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering, we plan to launch these courses in two streams: one is the mechanical stream, which we call B1.1 and the other is the avionics stream, which we call B2. We are the first school to offer an EASA -approved combined B1.1&B2 integrated program.
We have equally 50/50 seats available for that kind of stream. Mechanical streams include engineers who certify the aircraft, inspect the aircraft structure system, and operation, and perform functional checks post, which the aircraft can be released for service.
Similarly, avionics is a different stream more related to electrical and electronics. We have Subject Matter Experts for both streams as our teaching faculty, all of whom have received training from Airbus. In a gist, it is just that they follow two different curriculums under the same approach.
Moreover, there are several additional ancillary executive courses provided from the second or third year of the academic programme. These include Aircraft Specific Type Training Courses, Aircraft structures, Aircraft composite courses, Human Factors, Fuel Tank Safety, Safety Management Systems and so on.
What will be the eligibility criteria, admission process and final assessment?
The eligibility criteria and the standards are controlled by the regulatory bodies (DGCA & EASA). Since it is an engineering course, the basic entry requirement is Class XII with Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics.
As this is a niche course, students will have to appear for an entrance exam as well. An added prerequisite is the passion for aviation.
Final assessment
The students will be assessed through in-house module examinations, practical training and assessment throughout the program. As per Indian academic regulations, students will also need to qualify by the DGCA stipulated exam module, which has 13 modules per category
On the other hand, the EASA approvals for the school allow us to conduct our own internal exams and practicals.
The first priority of any student will definitely be to keep an eye on campus placements and job offers. So, what are the career opportunities?
As students come to us with practical experience, also called on-job training, majority of the candidates would get an opportunity to be absorbed by GMR Aero Technic and associated industrial partners in the region. As a constantly growing business, there is a large appetite for manpower with the required skill sets who are readily employable. Therefore, there are plenty of opportunities that students can pursue to work with any airline and for careers abroad.
Further, we are planning to get this course accredited (both domestically and internationally) and extend it to an engineering degree and BSc in Aviation. We are working with the National Aviation University here in India. With this, students can further pursue an MBA in Airline Management or Airline Operation.
Other opportunities include employment in the MROs, OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers), Boeing, Airbus and many others who are setting up operations in India. There is also a vast expanse in the aerospace industry, military MRO and military manufacturing, which can offer various additional opportunities.
Teaching techniques and patterns also play a very important role. Any creative or unique methods you are planning to include…
We have signed a technical collaboration with Airbus to support us with course content and train our instructors. Apart from the conventional method of teaching, we are associated with labs and large aircraft manufacturers, meeting the standard of teaching in terms of content and innovation. As part of airbus collaboration, we also train the students on Airbus Competency Trainer (ACT) software, which enables them to work on A320 aircraft virtually, providing experience in the practical handling of aircraft, systems and components.
Another first-of-its-kind, is the practical training we offer through our model aircraft system trainers, which provides hands-on experience to the students on the actual working of a typical aircraft systems. We have procured 28 such model aircraft trainers, covering all aspects of aircraft systems. This allows the students to practically feel and understand how an aircraft operates as part of their teaching curriculum.
The school has purchased a fully functional Jet aircraft to facilitate hands-on practical training.
Considering this is a big project, could you shed some light on the investment it took?
The School of Aviation is being developed as a green-field project in two phases. The newly build facility is spread across 75,000 square feet on a four-acre campus. In the first phase, around three acres of land are allocated for constructing administrative buildings, academic facilities, classrooms, workshops and a dedicated hangar to house an operating aircraft for practical training. We have procured 28 model aircraft trainers covering all aspects of aircraft systems. Additionally, the School of Aviation is the first school globally to collaborate with Airbus and also uses Airbus Competency Trainer (ACT) software for the training.
Who will be operating the school?
The school is built by GMR Aero Technic and day-to-day operations are managed by GMR Aviation Academy who has vast experience in managing such institutions globally.
So, could you give us some information on the number of candidates pursuing aviation in India right now?
There are about 45 schools in India with over 3,000 students undergoing various courses and processes in Aviation. There are close to 40 schools offering courses on aviation maintenance.
However, GMR School of Aviation is one of its kind in providing an end-to-end integrated course with a 2-year academic program and a 2-year program in MRO. This enables the students to graduate with Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (AME) license at the end of the course to a global standard, making them readily employable and providing opportunities to get absorbed in the MRO industry and its associated partners.
Lastly, what’s your take on the trends of the Aviation industry as a whole, in education and market?
With over 1,000 aircraft orders in place, India is set to become 3rd largest Aviation markets in next 5-10 years. The Indian MRO industry is projected to grow by $ 4Bn by FY31, compared to $1.7Bn in FY22. Currently, more than 50% of the Aviation MRO services are being imported. One of the main reasons for this trend is lack of availability of skilled manpower caused by non-existence of world-class integrated aviation engineering schools in the country. The shortage of manpower will become more challenging with the opening of defense sector to civil MRO services. To address this, we have conceptualized school of aviation to offer globally recognized 4-year course including 2-year academic and 2-year On-job-training (OJT) in MRO along with type training.
Did the pandemic or COVID-19 leave any impact on the way aviation is pursued?
Although there was a temporary setback, which was a global phenomenon, India has seen aviation bounce back very rapidly and the aviation trajectory is on a growth path like never before.
