Flight training company CAE (Booth No. 1253) and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) signed an agreement in mid-February for CAE to provide ab initio commercial helicopter pilot training for AAI. The agreement represents Montreal-based CAE’s first ab initio program for rotary-wing pilots.

“The helicopter ab initio program will blend CAE’s global best practices training methodology, simulation-based training and flight training to meet and exceed Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DCGA) and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) guidelines,” said Jeff Roberts, CAE’s group president, civil simulation products, training and services.

The training program is expected to graduate approximately 100 pilots annually. Training will be conducted at the CAE Global Academy Gondia, a two-year-old facility created as a joint venture between AAI and CAE.

“The civil and military sectors in India will require close to 2,500 helicopter pilots over the next 10 years,” said V.P. Agrawai, AAI chairman. “Current development of new helicopter pilots is insufficient to meet this requirement, so CAE Global Academy Gondia is stepping up to fill this important need to support continued aviation growth in India.”

Said Roberts, “The world-class training at the CAE Global Academy will prepare and position students to land their first jobs as helicopter pilots.”

The Gondia campus features sate-of-the-art classrooms, training devices and a fleet of about a dozen helicopters. Student enrollment will commence in late 2011 and employ the CAE Aircrew Selection System, a multidisciplinary process designed to evaluate a candidate’s “thinking and doing” capabilities in a contextual aviation environment and under stress. Graduates will be prepared for type-rating training on a specific helicopter type.