{"id":6592,"date":"2023-11-10T10:52:58","date_gmt":"2023-11-10T10:52:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/skyborne.com\/uk\/?p=6592"},"modified":"2023-11-10T10:53:00","modified_gmt":"2023-11-10T10:53:00","slug":"interview-with-lee-woodward-ceo-and-low-cost-and-regional-airline-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skyborne.com\/uk\/news-events\/interview-with-lee-woodward-ceo-and-low-cost-and-regional-airline-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Lee Woodward, CEO and Low Cost and Regional Airline Business"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Interview with Greg Whitaker from Low Cost and Regional Airline Business<\/i>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lee Woodward started Skyborne, one of the most modern and best equipped flight schools in the UK. But he dreams of the day <\/span>when he can extend pilot training to even more people.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Lee Woodard is in a good mood. This is hardly surprising as Skyborne, the pilot training academy that he co-founded and is CEO of, has just received the news that it has been selected by BA to be its partner for the airline\u2019s \u2018Speedbird\u2019 training programme, where talented candidates are given the opportunity to begin a rewarding career in the cockpit with the airline, regardless of their background. <\/p>\n

Following a joint selection process, students lucky enough to get on the training school\u2019s UK CAA Integrated ATPL programme have the \u00a399,500 of tuition costs covered in full. The sponsored programme is the first that BA has run since the mid-1990s and it is hoped that under-represented groups in aviation, including people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds and women will take part. <\/p>\n

Finding a way to train promising candidates has been a lifelong passion for Woodward. Originally a pilot, he later set up a training academy. This was later sold in the 2000s, but Woodward banked the knowledge gleaned from the experience and considered how he might do better in the future. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s no question that the industry needs to attract new talent. Following the pandemic, demand has outstripped the supply of suitably qualified flight crew around the world. The demand for travel from the public took the aviation industry by surprise. \u201cI think it\u2019s fair to say the United States is recovering at a faster rate than probably any other region on the planet right now, and I think the UK and Europe is somewhere in the region of 9-12 months behind what we\u2019re seeing in the US,\u201d says Woodward<\/b>, adding that other regions, notably the Middle East and India, were also experiencing strong growth.<\/p>\n

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Funding<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite the shortage of commercial pilots globally, there is one sticking point for would-be highflyers. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe single biggest barrier in the UK is finance,\u201d clarifies Woodward<\/b>. \u201cThe market in this country is just so far behind. In the US there are six or seven lenders that will loan the money, no problems. In Europe, there\u2019s ABN Amro and in France you can borrow from Credit Agricole.\u201d It wasn\u2019t always this way. \u201cIn the early days [of his previous business] we had HSBC extending what was known as their professional studies loan, and it worked well, with 93 per cent of entrants taking that loan, but then the global financial crisis hit, and HSBC got out of that entire market. That loan covered doctors, dentists, vets, lawyers, you name it \u2013 and pilots!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTHE SINGLE BIGGEST BARRIER IN THE UK IS FINANCE\u2026 THE MARKET IN THIS COUNTRY IS JUST SO FAR BEHIND\u201d<\/p>\n

Following the withdrawal of this product, for a time it was possible to get a loan secured on a valuable asset, usually property. This, of course, seriously narrowed the pool of applicants. However, at the time of writing, even this loan isn\u2019t available. \u201cNow, it is principally the Bank of Mum and Dad,\u201d says Woodward, mournfully. It is a real problem. Woodward estimates that the number of serious, eligible candidates is slashed by up to 95 per cent when there is no obvious way to fund the training, and those that can still train will naturally come from the wealthiest backgrounds. Projects like the Speedbird programme are welcomed with open arms, but there is only a set number of places available, so the number of people able to train is still somewhat limited. The lack of funding for training isn\u2019t for want of Skyborne trying to get a package made available. Woodward says, \u201cI\u2019ve championed it and worked so hard to get a package over the past four of five years. We took it all the way to the CEOs of NatWest and RBS. We\u2019ve shown and demonstrated what the risk looks like and how low it is.\u201d Woodward explains that the organisation has established dialogues with secondary and tertiary lending platforms to provide a funding package for trainees. While no definitive agreement on a financial product has yet been reached, \u201csome headway\u201d has been made, although he is clear that getting even to this stage has been \u201clabour intensive\u201d and a \u201cslow burner\u201d. \u201cWhat we\u2019re looking at now is an organisation that has the FCO (UK financial regulator) approvals and has the banking platform, but does not have capital. We can then put a prospectus out to investor groups to provide the funding to power the loans. That\u2019s where we\u2019re at right now,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Courses<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another financial pressure comes as at Skyborne (as with other training academies), working during the course duration is discouraged. \u201cFrankly, if you\u2019ve made that kind of investment, you want to have the odds in your favour of passing the training as much as possible,\u201d says Woodward<\/b>. Effort has been made to reduce as many distractions as possible. The course is residential and things like uniform and equipment are provided. There\u2019s a money-back guarantee should would-be pilots turn out to not have a head for heights after all, though Woodward says that this is very rarely claimed, as anyone who has managed to raise funds and start the course knows what the job will entail. \u201cThe guarantee does go quite a long way to remove some of the anxiety associated with the consequences of failure,\u201d Woodward explains. <\/p>\n

Training itself takes part in the classroom, on a variety of small aircraft and on flight simulators. Interestingly, the pilots will fly on the light planes before they are let loose on the simulators. \u201cWe use light aircraft simulators as the pilots are beginning to learn their instrument flying and that\u2019s really where the simulator comes into its own, says Woodward<\/b>, \u201cbecause at that stage, the pilot doesn\u2019t really require visual reference, as they\u2019re very much learning instrument procedures and instrument procedures.\u201d Simulators also mean that a variety of flight scenarios and weather conditions can be tried (where being able to fly by instruments alone is particularly important). Trainees will also be able to use a sim that replicates the Boeing 737Max, as flying a 50 tonne passenger aircraft is somewhat different to training in a two-seater Diamond DA42. <\/p>\n

\u201cFirst and foremost, you know, they\u2019re really honing their skills on how to apply an accurate instrument departure. But equally we can explore, particularly on the more complex multi-engine aircraft that we operate, using various scenarios,\u201d says Woodward<\/b>. \u201cThen when we get to the jet simulators, you\u2019re obviously teaching the pilot to operate in the multi-crew environment on an aircraft that weighs circa 50 tonnes and a swept wing jet with all the characteristics that are radically different from light piston engine aircraft. We also begin to introduce more complex failures where the non-technical skills are really developed, like teamwork and all of the crew resource management aspects.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSIMULATORS MEAN A VARIETY OF FLIGHT SCENARIOS AND WEATHER CONDITIONS CAN BE TRIED\u201d<\/p>\n

No time like the present<\/strong><\/p>\n

For all the barriers to overcome in acquiring the funding in the UK, Woodward still recommends it as an excellent career. \u201cYou know, it\u2019s a really exciting world going to fly with an airline,\u201d he says. \u201cFor the first three to five years, you\u2019re just getting to grips with it, but after that there\u2019s a whole plethora of options that most airlines will offer. \u201cI\u2019m biased, but I still think it\u2019s the best job in the world. I mean, I\u2019m 57 years old, and I\u2019ve been in this now for 30 years. I still get excited. I love it. I love being around the whole environment. It\u2019s partly why I started Skyborne because I really am passionate about it. \u201cPersonally I find it extremely rewarding to see a young man or woman about to embark on their career when I know what\u2019s ahead of them. It sounds a bit poetic, I know!\u201d Poetic or not, while there is commercial demand for pilots, a way will surely be found to get more of them from dreaming to being on the flight deck soon.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Interview with Greg Whitaker from Low Cost and Regional Airline Business. Lee Woodward started Skyborne, one of the most modern and best equipped flight schools in the UK. But he dreams of the day when he can extend pilot training to even more people. Lee Woodard is in a good mood. This is hardly surprising as Skyborne, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6273,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crosspost_to_2":false,"_crosspost_to_4":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"skyborne_region":[19],"skyborne_type":[15],"class_list":["post-6592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academy","skyborne_region-united-kingdom","skyborne_type-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skyborne.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skyborne.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skyborne.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skyborne.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skyborne.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6592"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/skyborne.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6592\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skyborne.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skyborne.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skyborne.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skyborne.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6592"},{"taxonomy":"skyborne_region","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skyborne.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/skyborne_region?post=6592"},{"taxonomy":"skyborne_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skyborne.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/skyborne_type?post=6592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}