15th May 2020
Over the past few weeks, in support of government guidance, we’ve continued to deliver a successful Ground School programme through our virtual technology. Ground School students have been studying from the safety of their homes, via video link with their TKI (Theoretical Knowledge Instructors), also from their homes. Whilst this presented them with a new way of learning, they’ve seen no interruption to their lesson programme.
Unfortunately, however, we did have to temporarily pause all flight training,
However, we’re delighted to announce that we are resuming flight training! Over recent weeks, we have been working hard to develop a safe flight training programme, that supports the government’s updates to social distancing and most importantly keeps our staff and students safe. We’re delighted to confirm that our proposal has been approved by the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) and that we can now resume flying.
Andy McFarlane, CEO Leading Edge Aviation states “We’ve not taken this decision lightly and have spent a great deal of time ensuring that we can manage this process. The wellbeing of our staff and students is always at the forefront of everything we do, and we’ll continue to monitor the situation closely. We have an agile team and safe effective working practices, so are ready to make whatever changes are necessary at any point in the process.”
Our new adjusted working practices for resuming flight training look at all areas of academy life such as student accommodation, academy space and resources, our aircraft, our teams. Students will work in small ‘student family groups’ based on who they are accommodated with and their training phase. We’ve re-arranged the academy so they can safely carryout their flight training, only within these groups with an assigned Flight Instructor, only coming to the academy when they are scheduled to fly. This will ensure that the number of people they are in contact with is strictly limited, but they still have a strong support network surrounding them.
We’ve also put a great deal of thought into how they will use the academy space, our simulator and our aircraft. We’re introducing deep cleaning regimes and have introduced new refreshment facilities for each ‘student family’, there’s no area of academy life that we’ve not considered. We’re even introducing a temperature check for everyone arriving at the academy, every day.
The programme will of course be different from our pre-Covid-19 programme, and we’ll continue to focus on safety, but importantly, our students will be back in the air and progressing their Commercial Pilots Licence.
Andy McFarlane, CEO Leading Edge Aviation states “We’d also like to thank our students and indeed our staff for their patience and support through this difficult time and we are looking forward to welcoming everyone back!”
Whilst we’re in phase two, we are still not accepting visitors and the majority of support staff will continue to work from home. We of course hope to be able to welcome visitors soon, but not before it is safe to do so, both for them and our teams.
If you’d like to find out more about training with us, visit leadingedgeaviation.com or call us today 01865 546300.
Or take a look at our welcome video here.
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NOTES FOR EDITORS
Media Enquiries
Sarah Champneys, Head of Marketing, Leading Edge Aviation.
01865 546300
07393 048536
sarah.champneys@leadingedgeaviation.com
More about Leading Edge Aviation
Leading Edge Aviation is a rapidly expanding pilot training academy with a fresh approach and an emphasis on holistic training. Offering the highest standards of regulatory technical training, students also benefit from a comprehensive professional and personal development curriculum to enhance non-technical skills.
Leading Edge delivers modular commercial training and the LEAP® (Leading Edge Airline Preparation) course; a full-time integrated course with BSc degree.
Based at London Oxford Airport, Leading Edge students receive wellbeing support, along with the most advanced learning aids. Virtual and mixed reality tech, and neuro training techniques are used to embed and refine new knowledge and skills, creating pilots who enter the industry airline ready, with strong leadership skills.
