It has been a day dedicated to aviation in which the objective has been to create an instructive debate, in which the different participating parties have had the opportunity to express themselves on various topics, such as: where is aviation today and where is it heading? What are the airlines looking for and what can a cadet fresh out of flight school do? What can flight schools do better? and many others.
We started with Rafa Molina’s presentation. He is the Training Director and flight instructor at Barcelona Flight School. He talked about the school’s past, present, and future challenges.
Special guest of the day: Andy O’Shea, CEO of Airline Pilot Club, Managing Director of Aviation Partners & Specialists. He was also Chairman of EASA’s Aircrew Training Policy Group for 5 years (introducing the APS MCC to the training sector) and currently leads the ATO and Environment subgroup of the ATPG. Mr. O’Shea has flown as a pilot, commander for Ryanair for 28 years, 18 of which were spent as Ryanair’s own Chief Pilot Trainer. He selected and trained over 10,000 newly qualified pilots to become safe and efficient airline pilots.
Andy O’shea has explained to both students and airlines the intention of the Airline Pilot Club to intermediate between the future student who wants to become a pilot through a school approved in Spain, the Barcelona Flight School, by him and his team of experts, in this case, APC.
We had the pleasure to have onboard Rick Adams as a moderator for the journey. He is Chair of the Pilot Training Conference at the annual World Aviation Training Summit (WATS) in Orlando, Florida. He is a long time Aviation Journalist and Corporate Communicator for more than 40 years. Most of his writing focus has been on Training and Safety subjects, based on research and interviews with Pilots, Engineers and Executives.
Representatives of different airlines were also present. Where students have had the opportunity to ask questions dedicated to their future, the world of aviation, the concerns that a cadet has at the end of training in a school to the process of starting to work in an airline.
Our speakers have given answers such as the Airline Pilot Club tool founded by Andy O’Shea…
It is worth mentioning when Antonio Paris, one of the speakers of the day, first officer at VistaJet, explained his experience from the first moment he started training as a pilot to the steps he had to take to get to his current position.
Antonio Paris’s key phrase was:
- “You guys should never give up. Luck doesn’t come to you; you have to be the ones who have to look for it. Be yourselves in the interview.”
At that moment Antonio was referring to the period when a student finishes his pilot training and is in the process of looking for his first job in an airline.
We were joined by Joaquín Rodríguez who:
- ”I have been flying for airlines since 1988. First I spent a very short time with Spantax and that same year I joined Iberia. I have flown DC9, MD87, B747 and above all A320, where I have been commander since 1999. I am TRI/TRE of A320. I have 12 years of experience as an instructor and I also do base flights and test flights.”
He is also an Iberia captain.
On the other hand, Samuel Bolullo, commander of Iberia, also attended:
- “I have been flying in airlines since 88. First I was very short time in Spantax and that same year I joined Iberia. I have flown DC9, MD87, B747 and above all A320, where I have been commander since 1999. I am TRI/TRE of A320. I have 12 years of experience as an instructor and I also do base flights and test flights.”
We have also been proud to have Vicente Nebot who is a Commander at Iberia:
Vicente Nebot Peirat Retired airline pilot. Civilian training. Almost 35 years, and almost 23 as commander in fleet models DC9, MD 87 and 88 and A320 (Aviaco and Iberia) Previously, 5 years flying helicopters in all types of missions. Instructor for years of single-engine, multi-engine and especially MCC in schools in Sabadell Very active and fully involved with private, sport and competition aviation.
Lorenzo Luchetti, Captain and Chief Pilot for Vueling and Alberto Hernández Captain and Head of Training for Vueling. They talked to us about their own experience, how they arrived where they are nowadays. They marked the importance about Standards in the Aviation Industry, mostly during the training for pilots, which makes it more safety and professional.
We welcomed a representative from Level, Gianfranco Giachetti:
He is currently LEVEL’s Director of Operations in Barcelona. Previously he held various positions of responsibility, including: Director of Operations at LEVEL in France; Deputy Director of Training at Wow air; Director of Operations at Volotea; Director of Training and Recruitment at Vueling; Deputy General Manager at a long-haul ACMI company, Director of Training and Deputy Director of Operations at a Latin American airline.
In addition, he has participated as a founding team member in 4 start-up projects and 2 airline mergers, and he is an Airline Restructuring Consultant for Bureau-Veritas-France, where he is in charge of several projects worldwide.
Pilot since 1987, currently qualified as an Instructor and Examiner on Airbus A320, A330 and A340. Previously I have been qualified in multiple aircraft types and operations worldwide, mainly in B757, B737, B727 and B717.
Last but not least, we have taken advantage of the day to invite Diari de Sabadell to a session of our Barcelona Flight School simulator, certified for the APS MCC Boeing 737 course, where two students (Mireia Osorio and Nicolas Cabre) of the school have been able to teach some maneuvers such as takeoff, communications, approach and landing along with the Simulator Instructor and commander in Ryanair, Alex Lopez Botella.
In short, it has been a fantastic day, very interesting and, above all, unforgettable.
Written by: Julia Martin
