Conversation with Captain Dharamraaj Shukla, CEO, SpeedJet Aviation Academy

1. What are the terms of the deal with Gulf Aviation Academy?
Gulf Aviation Academy (GAA) is part of Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, the investment arm for the Kingdom of Bahrain. It is a key component of Bahrain’s aviation sector and enjoys a stronghold in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region. The agreement with SpeedJet Aviation marks their entry into the Indian market and is a first-of-its-kind for GAA in the Asian market. Through this, we aim to offer our students a competitive advantage in the aviation industry that is at par with international norms.
2. How will the tie up with Gulf Aviation Academy benefit students of SpeedJet?
Under GAA SpeedJet, we offer comprehensive range of structured training programs for all aviation personnel including pilots, cabin crew, engineers and ground staff with training sessions in GAA’s training facility at Bahrain.
Our state-of-the-art course equipment enables us to offer a comprehensive and modern aviation training infrastructure and set new standards in aviation training. Students also get access to various training facilities around the world through our global affiliates and our training module caters to requirements across APAC, Middle East and Africa.
SpeedJet Aviation also takes care of students’ stay, air tickets, visa and ground transportation for the full course duration in Bahrain (Stay includes a 3-5 Star Hotel Accommodation with breakfast).
3. Give us details of the training module for pilots and cabin crew?
Our range of training programs includes Pre-Pilot Program (12-15 months), Cabin Crew Program, Ground Handling Program and Type Rating Program.
The CPL course lasts almost a year where we provide 3 months of ground training in India & 8 months of training with our partner training academy in Florida, USA. The cadet obtains 252 hours of flying experience on single engine as well as multi-engine aircraft in US and is awarded a US FAA (Federal Aviation Authority) CPL Licence on successfully clearing all exams.
Our A320 Type Rating course is conducted at GAA facilities in Bahrain and is as per the DGCA requirements. We cover a total of 115 hours of Ground School + 84 Hours of Flight School in this short-duration course of 45-55 days.
Our Cabin Crew course is recognised by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAAi) of United Kingdom and, on completion of this course, students obtain a certificate that is recognised by CAAi & other Aviation Regulators worldwide. Students are trained in Gulf Aviation Academy Cabin Crew Mock setup which includes 3 Mock aircrafts A320, B737 & EMB 170 where all safety drills are performed by the students practically. We are the only company to offer this type of training in India.

4. What set SpeedJet apart from other training institutes?
India is set to see a sharp spike in demand for trained aviation personnel. The aviation industry is on a high-growth trajectory and India is to become the third-largest aviation market by 2020.
With over 700 aircraft ordered by scheduled carriers, India will need at least 7000 pilots and 1500 cabin crew over the next few years. With a huge number of pilots and crew being absorbed by airlines in the Gulf region, this number is only expected to grow.
With Minimum Eligibility Criteria as low as HSC, anyone and everyone can take advantage of this impending growth in the aviation sector. Our aim is to make aviation training affordable and accessible to students from diverse economic as well as educational backgrounds.
5. How many pilots and cabin crew have you trained so far?
We have trained over 100 pilots and over 150 cabin crew and ground staff in the last 12 months alone. By 2020, we target to scale up operations heavily, with 500 trained pilots along with 1500 cabin crew and ground staff.
6. Where can your students expect to find placement?
Our students are placed across all leading domestic airlines – including Air India, Jet Airways, Indigo Airlines, Go Air, Spice Jet and Air Atlanta Icelandic.
7. Do you have tie up with any of the leading airlines for student placement?
We do not have a binding agreement with any one airline, giving our students access to carriers across-the-board.