Major Players Focus on Flight Training at Dubai Airshow

A gathering of more than 50 aviation training leaders met in Dubai during the airshow, indicating the path forward for the region and worldwide to address pilot requirements.

Julie Boatman

Thursday, December 02, 2021 at 05:34 PM ET

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From left: Max Buerger, Alexander Alvarez, Joel Davidson, Attie Neimanna and Cristopher Magdangal Courtesy: AFM.aero

Key Takeaways:

A recent global summit revealed a significant disparity in how aviation training organizations (ATOs) recovered from the pandemic; U.S. ATOs showed quick resilience and strong pilot demand, while many international ATOs faced severe challenges, particularly those without government support.
Regions with strong government support and shorter lockdowns, like the U.S. and parts of Europe, saw quicker recovery, whereas others, such as Southeast Asia, experienced substantial contraction in their flight training industries.
Despite these varied regional impacts, the global flight training industry is now responding to a renewed worldwide demand for pilots, while also focusing on future challenges like supply-chain issues, digitization, and the affordability of training.

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While aviation training organizations in the U.S. weathered the COVID-19 pandemic with resilience and a quick return to normal, ATOs globally have seen varying degrees of success in bouncing back from the trials induced by the near shutdown in activity during 2020. But even those greatly affected are now responding to the renewed need for pilots worldwide.

That’s just one of the takeaways from a summit of more than 50 leaders in the flight training industry gathered in the United Arab Emirates following the Dubai Airshow in November.