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Flight training fee-help stuff up gets in the spotlight - 

Another Govt head in the sand approach to aviation policy could see more disincentives for the younger generation to consider becoming commercial pilots, via the Oz:   

Trainee pilot squeeze
ROBYN IRONSIDE

Universities and flight-training schools fear a cap on loans for trainee pilots will deter people from pursuing careers in the aviation industry when there is a global pilot shortage.

From next year, the maximum amount of financial assistance available to trainee pilots will be a little more than $100,000, instead of $130,000. The reduction came about as a result of the student loan sustainability legislation that was ­designed to limit the number of “serial students”, or people doing degree after degree.

The only exceptions to the $104,400 cap on the higher education loan program are medicine, dentistry and veterinary science courses, where students can borrow up to $150,000.

Deputy chair of aviation at Melbourne’s Swinburne University, Stephen Fankhauser, said the changes could have serious implications for those providing pilot training and education.

“You don’t have to be Einstein to work out that if university courses have less students enrolling, that will put them under stress,” Mr Fankhauser said. “University courses run on budgets and they’re calculated around predictions of student load, and if you have a reduction in students that will impact on budgets.” He said the cost of obtaining the qualifications needed to work for an airline or as a flight instructor was generally more than $140,000.

“We need experienced and qualified commercial pilots that have multi-engine instrument ratings and air transport pilot ­licence theory who are qualified to fly in both charter and regular public transport,” he said. “We don’t need single engine CPL (commercial pilot licence) holders that are only qualified to do joy flights or the like.”

CAE Oxford Aviation Academy Australia general manager Michael Drinkall said that from a business perspective, they could simply reallocate resources to training internationals if demand from Australian students dried up.

But that would not solve the shortage of experienced flight ­instructors, who were in ­unprec­edented demand.

“When the industry is trying to rapidly expand, you’ve got a government that’s going to cap funding for the people to complete the training,” Mr Drinkall said. “There’s a lot of lobbying going on to have the cap increased to $150,000, which would give enough coverage for people to go through and do the training.”

Industry forecasts suggest 790,000 more pilots will be ­needed in the next two decades, with the Asia-Pacific region leading the growth in demand. Boeing’s outlook this year suggests 261,000 more civil aviation pilots will be needed in this region, more than any other part of the world.

Par Avion Tasmania flight training managing director Shannon Wells said he shared the concerns about the responsiveness of commonwealth education agencies towards industries such as aviation training, which were ­affected by rapid global and domestic market change. “Our industry cannot afford to be 12 months or more behind market demands for commercial pilots and flight instructors,” he said. “We don’t as yet know what our VET student loan cap is for 2019 and, speaking to other operators, they are the same, which makes it difficult for us and our students to plan.”

Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan said the passage of the student loan legislation would help manage the escalating growth in outstanding student debt. He argued that seven out of 12 providers offering a CPL diploma were charging tuition fees less than the student loans course cap.

Mr Fankhauser said it would be unfortunate to see a ­return to a time when only the wealthy could ­afford to become pilots.

“When the FEE-HELP support for aviation courses came in about 12 years ago, what we saw at Swinburne was a 50 per cent lift in enrolments, virtually overnight,” he said. “Now we have a scenario where we have quite a severe pilot shortage that, combined with this legislation, will result in a reduced output of pilots. That’s not going to be good for the industry.”

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