LONDON – On April 8, Irish Low-Cost Carrier Ryanair announced that it had officially launched its major training partnering with Asotnfly in order to deliver Ryanair with a mentoring programme in pairs that would help produces up to 500 new cadet pilots over the next 4 year period. The idea behind the programme is built with the Ryanair expansion model, which the cadet pilots will help the airline achieve as it looks to continue to strengthen its foothold across the European aviation sector, with its brand new Boeing 737 MAX 8200 gamechanger aircraft.
Ryanair’s Head of Crew Training Captain, Senan O’Shea said: “This new Ryanair – Astonfly programme will provide the airline with a steady pipeline of talented and professional pilots from around Europe to meet the needs of our growing network. “
“Ryanair will hire up to 1,000 pilots per annum over the next 4 years and our pilots can look forward to unmatched opportunities flying with the world’s number one international airline. We have carefully chosen Astonfly as our cadet training partner in France due to their high standards in initial flying training. We are very pleased to lend our operational expertise to Astonfly”.
Programme Shows Signs Of expected large growth
With the COVID-19 pandemic bringing a halt to all flight training around the globe, many have expected there to be a larger than normal wait for large pilot recruitment programs to be launched, however, this announcement by Ryanair shows that the market demand is clearly going to continue to rise at a much higher than expected rate and airlines must act now to put plans in place to help deal with this higher demand.
The pilots trained under this programme will have the chance to work from any one of the 90 Ryanair bases across its network, with the airline also saying that pilots with the right progression could be looking at being upgraded to command within 3 to 4 years, making Ryanair one of if not the fastest airline for pilot progression in Europe.
Clair Group’s President, Charles Clair said: “This ambitious pilot recruitment programme announced in partnership with Ryanair is a strong sign of post-pandemic recovery in international air transport. Astonfly is particularly proud to have been chosen as an exclusive training partner in France by Europe’s number 1 pilot employer. It represents a unique opportunity for our past, present and future students, to become commercial pilots for Europe’s largest airline upon completion of their flight training. We look forward to working with Ryanair.”.
Never Been A Better Time To Train To Be A Pilot
With the announcement of this programme by Ryanair and with the confirmation of other major airlines globally of their intentions to go onto a major recruitment driver to help meet not just the high demand for Summer of 2022, but also meet the growing demand for air travel which is expected to reach a higher level than 2019’s post-pandemic numbers in the next 4-5 years, there has never been a better time to look into training to become a Pilot or member of the crew.
Ryanair’s Director of Operations, Neal McMahon said: “Ryanair is pleased to announce this training partnership with Astonfly, which has an impressive track record in training top-class pilots to the highest standards. This new training programme with Astonfly is Ryanair’s only mentored pilot programme in France and will deliver up to 500 new cadet pilots.”
“Ryanair offers unparalleled career opportunities for cadets with industry-leading rosters and excellent earning potential. This partnership highlights our commitment to supporting, developing and recruiting pilots in the region for current and future positions. With hundreds of daily Ryanair flights in and out of France, we expect students from across Europe to avail of Ryanair’s low fares and enrol in Astonfly’s Ryanair Mentored pilot training programme.”
