Friday, May 16, 2014

Boeing, Scoot in Dreamliner pilot training tie-up


Boeing and Scoot on Friday announced a five-year pilot training agreement to support the Singapore-based airline's fleet transition to 787 Dreamliners.

Under the agreement, Boeing Flight Services, a business unit of Boeing Commercial Aviation Services, will provide 787 flight training to Scoot pilots at Boeing's Singapore training campus.

An anticipated 32 Scoot pilots will undergo training this year.

"We are proud to provide Scoot’s growing airline in a growing region with the industry's best flight training as they add the 787 to their fleet," said Sherry Carbary, vice president of Boeing Flight Services.

"Aviation opportunities or airlines and pilots are expanding rapidly in the Asia Pacific region, and we're pleased to offer a robust network of experienced instructors and training devices close to our customers across the region," she said in a statement released by Boeing on Friday.

The 2013 Boeing Pilot & Technician Outlook, a respected industry forecast of personnel demand, projects a requirement for 498,000 new commercial airline pilots and 556,000 new maintenance technicians to fly and maintain the new planes entering the world fleet over the next 20 years.

In Southeast Asia, 51,500 pilots and 64,700 technicians are needed to fill the gap.

Scoot chief executive officer Campbell Wilson said: "This is an exciting time for Scoot, as we expand our services throughout the Asia Pacific region, and work with Boeing for world-class flight training."

Scoot will acquire 20 Boeing 787s beginning in late 2014.

Scoot expects to take delivery of its first Boeing 787-9 aircraft on November 25.

Scoot's CEO said its pilots will test the Dreamliner in Washington first before flying it to Singapore in December.

The Dreamliner is scheduled for the Singapore-Taipei-Tokyo route.

All six of Scoot's current Boeing 777 fleet will be replaced by the Dreamliner by the middle of next year.

By March 2016, 11 Boeing 787 should be in service.

Scoot will also take delivery of nine more Dreamliners by 2019.

Wilson said: "Next year doubles our fleet size -- so it will allow us to increase frequency to some destinations, allow us to add new destinations. It's also much more fuel-efficient -- at 27 percent much more fuel-efficient per seat.

"So it allows us to fly to cities that currently we really can't economically serve, and of course that lower structure allows us to continue offering really, really good value air fares, so people can fly more often and scoot 'outta' here."

The aircraft were ordered in 2012 by parent company Singapore Airlines.

Scoot currently operates 777s on medium- and long-haul low-cost flights between Singapore and Sydney, Gold Coast, Bangkok, Taipei, Tokyo, Tianjin, Shenyang, Nanjing, Qingdao, Seoul, Perth and Hong Kong.

SOURCE


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