Charles Alcock is managing editor of the AIN Media Group, having rejoined the company in 2019. He has been an aviation journalist since 1986, and previously worked for AIN from 1990 to 2017, most recently as editor-in-chief. His main focus is on covering new aviation technology and business models, as well as international news.
Having been raised in the London area, Alcock studied at the University of Manchester in the UK and earned an honors degree in Politics and Modern History. He speaks English and French, and some German.

Managing Editor

Charles Alcock

Strong delivery rates for new airliners are continuing to drive increased demand for flight training and expanding the availability of qualified pilots. As a leading training provider, CAE (Stands 1632/G5) is expanding capacity in response to this need, especially in emerging markets such as China, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, where there is growing demand for more ab initio training. 
“Airlines in these regions are now being more strategic about the situation and are investing to build lines of home-grown pilots,” commented Nick Leontidis, CAE’s group president for civil aviation solutions. “At the same time there is a lot more line training as well, requiring both aircraft and more simulators. We’re doing more to deliver fully integrated training programs for airline pilots.”
Here in Dubai, CAE has jointly operated a training center with Emirates Airline since 2002. In 2013, it added a second facility at the Silicon Oasis site and is now expanding this to add more simulator bays. Last year, Emirates announced its intention to build yet another flight crew training academy.
Meanwhile, CAE is also involved in the Etihad Flight College at Al Ain. This was established following last year’s acquisition by Etihad Airways of the Mubadala group’s Horizon International Flight Academy. The facility will provide multi-crew pilot license training.
The Canada-based simulator manufacturer and training provider is also involved in developing for the business aviation sector. This covers both fixed-wing private jets and helicopters.
New Technology
CAE continues to make significant investments in research and development efforts. “The industry is demanding more capabilities in the simulator to deal with new training tasks that are becoming more relevant, like upset and recovering training, which is now set to be covered by new legislation in response to recent accidents, and loss of control situations,” explained Leontidis. “We’re also working on more evidence-based training that is more flexible. In this respect, the simulator becomes both a training tool and also a collector of data to help airlines understand the capabilities of pilots. This capability is reflected in our latest XR range of simulators.”
The latest CAE 7000XR Series full-flight simulator features more advanced systems to allow instructors to manage and plan every aspect of training programs. The use of common architecture means that the equipment can be more readily adapted to train for multiple cockpits, reducing lifecycle costs. CAE also offers its Simfinity family of flight training devices.
Increasingly, airlines are looking for more comprehensive training services that will ensure they can achieve a constant flow of qualified flight crew to meet the needs of their growing fleets. “This has created more of an outsourcing opportunity for us,” said Leontidis. “We have a number of customers today where we take them straight from cadet to captain,” he explained. “We handle selection of candidates, put them through the training and deliver fully qualified first officers.”

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