Students of the newly-certified Air Services Limited (ASL) Aeronautical Engineering School are undergoing training under the supervision of Caribbean Airlines (CAL) to enhance their knowledge of the workings of large pressurised planes.
The first orientation session of the “Large Pressurised Aircraft Familiarisation programme” was held for the students on Thursday at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Timehri.
The programme is expected to help the students to become well-rounded as they would be familiarised with different models of airplanes. They are currently more familiar with smaller aircraft, such as the Britten-Norman Islanders and the Cessna 208 Caravan, which are operated by ASL out of the Ogle International Airport.
Annette Arjoon-Martins, ASL Marketing Manager, called the collaboration between the new aeronautical school and CAL historic. She said their partnership makes perfect sense, given the common values they share as it relates to air service.
Arjoon-Martins said CAL has a track record of providing a service that is reliable and that has been uninterrupted for over 60 years. She added that the experience of the team at Caribbean Airlines can benefit the budding aeronautical engineers.
She further said that the collaboration will also help to develop and sustain the aviation industry within Guyana and the world at large.
The students who make up the first batch—Shivanand Persaud, Khoupa Anand, Navendra Benjamin, Mario Reid and Glenroy Kingston—said that they benefited a lot from the orientation, since they have now been exposed to “hands on” training with larger air carriers.
The CAL programme is expected to cover ramp safety awareness around a large aircraft and airframe and engine systems found on large aircraft.
“The essence of the programme is to enhance understanding and assimilation of the structural makeup and systems that are commonly found on such an aircraft,” a CAL brief on the programme stated, while reiterating the carrier’s commitment to assisting local aviation counterparts in nurturing Guyanese students seeking to develop a career in the industry.
Meanwhile, an ASL press release said the new school received its certification from the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) on October 15, 2015 and is now poised to extend its maintenance training programmes to the public.
It noted that since June, 2003, ASL has been actively engaged in the development of its maintenance and engineering personnel through a wide array of training initiatives.
The Maintenance Division, it said, accumulated an insurmountable wealth of expertise and resources in the field of maintenance training in the course of meeting the company’s needs for skilled maintenance technicians and engineers to support its fleet.
In light of its inclination to train, ASL said its management sought to galvanise all energies associated with the development of its maintenance technicians and engineers under the auspices of an aeronautical engineering school.
It added that students joining the school will have an unprecedented opportunity to obtain the required basic theoretical knowledge while building professional capacity and gaining hands on experience on the country’s “largest and most diverse fleet” of fixed and rotor-wing aircraft. It further noted that its instructors are all home grown practicing engineers directly employed with ASL’s Maintenance Division.
