Young Omani’s flying dream come true

KABEER YOUSUF -
MUSCAT, Jan 15 -
A young Omani pilot’s five-year-long wait to fly a plane despite having a Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) will end soon. In the next two and a half months, he will be flying an A-320 aircraft, thanks to Salam Air’s training programme.
Moatasim Mohammed al Balushi, who had been assisting passengers on the ground all these years, has just finished a two-and-half-month-long training at Toulouse, France. He returned home last week. He was selected to undergo Ab-Initio Training by the country’s first budget airline. The programme has been approved by the Public Authority for Civil Aviation (PACA).
“No doubt it’s a dream come true,” said Moatasim, who was working as a passenger service executive for Oman Air and Salam Air despite having secured his CPL from Fujairah Aviation Academy in 2014. Salam Air had announced it would train CPL holders to become pilots. The airline came up with this idea on learning that many candidates, despite having flyers’ licence, were not working as pilots.
Moatasim is the first to be selected for the programme. He completed screening phase, aptitude test, initial training and tests that assessed his decision-making skills, reaction time, multi-tasking skills and orientation skills followed by revalidation of his Instrument Rating (IR) and his licence.

Next, he has to undergo ‘Base Training, where his ‘Touch and Go’ skills will be assessed. He has to make some six take-offs and landings along with trainer Captain Nabhan Hamed al Harthy, Type Rater Examiner on A-320 aircraft and a Salam Air pilot. “We have received 48 applications, including from a woman, in the age group 25 to 42 years since we announced the programme,” said Captain Salim al Khatri, Head of Training, at the airline.

A total of 23 candidates have been selected. “Of these, only 12 to 13 are expected to make it to the finals.” Successful candidates will undergo an outsourced type rating course on an A-320 simulator in Toulouse, France, Bahrain or Dubai. This is the stage that he/she has to clear to become a 2nd Officer.

“Candidates must undergo ‘Base Training’ on a similar aircraft without passengers but with an instructor some six to nine times in order to get an Omani CPL. After the Line Training for some hundred take-offs and landings, he/she can become a 1st Officer with Salam Air or any other airline of their choice,” said Captain Salim.

“Candidates, after successful completion of Ab-Initio Training, can be recruited by us after a three-month-long evaluation.

If he/she doesn’t make it the first time, they will get a second chance after 750 hours of flying,” said Captain Salim.

According to him, two more candidates selected for the training programme will leave for Toulouse on January 25.