31 March 2009
AirAsia held a graduation ceremony for its latest batch of students at the AirAsia Academy multi-purpose hall here. A total of 100 flight attendant trainees together with representatives of the guest service cadets and ramp agents received their graduation certificates from Group CEO Dato’ Sri Tony Fernandes.
“This marks a new chapter in the history of AirAsia as this is the first time that we have a large number of trainees graduating simultaneously. Besides, this is our inaugural graduation held in this great hall since the Phase 2 of the Academy was completed. We want our graduates to feel special and this special graduation ceremony is an acknowledgement of their success after completing an intensive training programme at the Academy,” said Fernandes.
Among the 100 graduating flight attendants, 8 were Vietnamese while the rest were Malaysians. While the majority of AirAsia’s flight attendants are either Malaysian, Thai or Indonesian, the Asean carrier has a good mix of nationalities serving its extensive route network. Apart from Vietnamese, there are Singaporeans, Filipinos, Cambodians, Laotians, Myanmarese, Japanese and Chinese nationals on its crew list.
“As a truly Asean airline, AirAsia is committed to growing local talents in the countries we are operating in. Having a multi-national mix of crew has not only helped us to understand local cultures better in order to provide superior service to our guests, but on a macro level, it also promotes integration among Asean member countries,” he added.
The AirAsia Academy, located barely 2 kilometres from the Low Cost Carrier Terminal where AirAsia headquarters is located, was set up in 2005 with the objective of meeting the human capital requirements of the rapidly growing airline. AirAsia has grown its aircraft fleet from just 2 in 2001 to 76 today, while its staff strength grew from 200 to over 6,000 presently. Apart from Kuala Lumpur as its main hub, AirAsia’s other major hubs are Bangkok and Jakarta.
AirAsia Academy provides initial and recurrent training courses for pilots, flight attendants, guest services agents, ramp agents and engineering, as well as an induction programme for all new AirAsia employees.
The Academy is equipped with 6 flight simulators comprising 4 Airbus A320s, 1 Airbus A330 and 1 Boeing 737 which are run and maintained by CAE, a leading provider of integrated training solutions and advanced simulation and control technologies to the aviation industry.
The Academy is staffed by instructors who are experts in their respective fields to provide required training that meets international and the respective countries’ civil aviation standards.
"AirAsia is ever committed to develop more skilled home grown pilots, by investing and having started our very own cadet pilot training programme that not only provides the opportunity, but also to nurture Malaysians who are keen to contribute to the nation’s aviation sector. Our partnership with world class players such as CAE further strengthens AirAsia’s goals to create an excellent training centre that serves as a training ground for our pilots and crew, and potentially to train pilots from other airlines in the region," Fernandes added.
AirAsia Academy is touted to have the most advanced aviation training facilities in Asia.
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