Bahrain 2012: Bahrain on the fast train to aviation excellence

GAA – the Mumtalakat-owned aviation academy – has seen numbers grow since officially earning its wings from the regulators 16 months ago.

And while chief executive Tim Shattock will be meeting airline visitors in the company’s hospitality chalet at the show, he will have an eye on the numbers passing through the gates in the public area.

“This is the future,” Shattock said. “The youngsters now are looking at software and other industries. There are misconceptions about the aviation industry. The sheen or gloss about being a pilot has gone. But the industry needs to be bringing in bright youngsters with technicians and engineers in great demand. There is a shortfall in demand and cabin crew are essential. GAA holds open days, we go to universities and to schools.”

When the Bahrain show was held two years ago, GAA was in transition as it was being taken out of the Gulf Air structure to become a stand-alone business.

Shattock’s strategy was simple. “I wanted us to focus; to adopt a crawl, walk, run approach. I would say we are now walking comfortably.”

“I think the relevance of the 2012 show is that GAA is well and truly in the market – up and competing. We have grown substantially. We have taken in two new simulators since January 2010, ordered a new A330 and we have a growing customer base.”

The numbers are impressive. There are 58 training courses on offer, some 38 customers and a remarkable 2000 trainees passing through GAA on an annual basis.

Many of these are Bahrainis. “GAA really is non-political and non-discriminatory,” Shattock said. “Nobody gets special favours. It’s about getting the right people into the industry.”

Working with the Bahraini Government’s Tamkeen organisation – the kingdom’s enterprise agency – GAA took 100 Bahraini nationals for pilot training. The first cohort has now completed its ab-initio and are being type-rated,” Shattock said. A number of the Bahrainis are working as second officers with a Gulf airline. Meanwhile, some 250 Bahrainis are learning engineering and technician skills.

“We have men and women from all different backgrounds. The results have been excellent,” Shattock said.
GAA has become a regional training partner and authorised training centre for IATA, which has seen the academy offer more courses, including key subjects such as emergency planning, dangerous goods regulations and cargo management.

As well as Bahrain’s two national carriers, Gulf Air and Bahrain Air, GAA has seen a number of other Gulf airlines signing up to either use the company’s excellent facilities or to seek type rating with GAA’s training staff using the four simulators on site.

The two newest simulators are an Embraer 170/190 and an A320. There is also a second A320 and an A330/A340, which will be permanently configured as an A340 when the latest A330 simulator arrives in the summer.