Qantas has opened its new Pilot Academy at Toowoomba, in Queensland. The academy will have the capacity to train up to 250 pilots each year to build a long-term talent pipeline for Qantas, Jetstar and QantasLink and help the broader industry meet the increasing need for skilled aviators in Australia.
Alan Joyce, CEO of Qantas who was in Toowoomba with Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to inspect the new training facilities and student accommodation said: “Opening our new academy is a historic moment for Qantas, for aviation in Australia and for the thousands of future pilots who will learn how to fly here in Toowoomba.”
The training facilities comprise a 1500 square metre hangar, four flight training simulators, classrooms as well as purpose-built pre-flight briefing and flight scheduling areas.It also aims to increase the proportion of female and aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pilots in the industry.
The first 34 students started their training at the new facilities earlier this month, with 100 students expected to be in training by the end of 2020. The academy is expected to eventually grow to have the potential to train as many as 500 pilots a year across Toowoomba and Mackay, the preferred location for the second academy site.
