NEXT week sees the official opening of British Midland’s Central Training Centre near Heathrow.
The opening – to be officially performed by Civil Aviation Authority chairman Sir Malcolm Field – means that for the first time, all the training carried out by British Midland will happen under one roof. Previously, it has been something of a fragmented affair.
Pilot training was carried out at a British Midland-owned base in Whitwick, Leicestershire, while cabin crew were trained at Heathrow.
“By consolidating our efforts there will be more opportunities for crossover training,” said a BM spokeswoman. “That means different departments see how other departments operate.”
The building itself, which is located at Stockley Close in West Drayton, represents a £15m investment. Of this, £9m was contributed by the airline – doubling its annual investment in training expenditure.
The balance came from the carrier’s property partner Bilton plc, which retains ownership of the land.
In the coming year, more than 2,000 people will be trained at the Central Training Centre.
Most will be BM staff, but the airline hopes the central training facility will open up opportunities for BM to increase the amount of training services it sells to third-party airlines.
However, the airline stresses that the additional revenue from contracting-out training will not be a prime source of income and the priority will always be given to the training of the carrier’s own staff.
Though the official opening is in July, the centre is already virtually fully occupied.
Construction of the four-storey building began in March 1998, and the gradual process of moving staff into it began in April this year.
The first-phase development accounts for approximately 100,000sq ft of land and there is room for an additional 40,000sq ft of training accommodation.
The centre houses four flight-deck simulators for pilot training and three cabin simulators which are used for training exercises such as smoke-filled evacuation.
There is also computer equipment for language training courses. The airline uses Vektor multimedia software to provide courses in French, German and Spanish.
Staff follow the on-screen courses to work towards Royal Society of Arts accreditation.
According to a BM spokeswoman, the languages courses focus on providing conversational ability and it is mandatory for some crew to complete the language programme within their first year.
At the inauguration of the first phase of development of the centre last June, British Midland chairman Sir Michael Bishop highlighted why the airline had decided to invest so heavily in training.
He said: “It is impossible to underestimate the importance of training to British Midland and to the whole aviation industry.
“Ensuring that all staff are trained to the highest possible standard is an essential component of running anairline but this is not just aboutcomplying with minimum industry regulations.
“Our passengers rightly demand that our pilots, cabin crew and engineers are all receiving constant industry-leading training. For this reason we are undertaking what is undoubtedly British Midland’s most important investment in this field.”
Sir Michael pointed out that aviation training has always been given a high priority throughout BM’s history.
In 1938, the company’s predecessor was formed under the name of Air Schools Limited, and it specialised in flying instruction for RAF pilots.
It was not until 1949 that it began its first passenger and cargo flights.
“Ironically, this means that British Midland has been in the business of aviation training longer than it has been business of flying,” said Sir Michael.