A multi-engine, instrument rated pilot, James Wynbrandt has been an AIN and Business Jet Traveler contributor since 2003. His in-depth reporting and insightful features have won more than a dozen editorial honors, including two National Business Aviation Association Gold Wing Awards (2019; 2021), and his articles have also appeared in the New York Times, Barron’s, Fortune, Forbes, and Smithsonian Air &amp; Space. He has flown his Mooney M20K 252 on assignments throughout North and Central America and the Caribbean. Wynbrandt is also the author of Flying High (Wiley &amp; Sons), a biography of Jet Blue founder David Neeleman, as well as histories, references works, and books on a variety of other topics from major publishers. He lives in New York City.

Contributor - Business Aviation

James Wynbrandt

The Asia-Pacific region will lead the world in demand for pilots over the next 20 years, according to Boeing’s Pilot Outlook 2017-2036, with an estimated 253,000 new crewmembers needed. A few of these future hires just gained an inside track to a job at Singapore Airlines, under a partnership with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University announced at the Singapore Airshow 2018.

 


The new Flight Minor accelerated program, created for students at the school’s Asia Campus in Singapore, will allow them to earn their Bachelor’s in Aeronautics degree and then spend their final year in the United States at Embry-Riddle’s Daytona Beach, Florida campus, gaining their required flight time, instrument rating and other certifications. This marks the first time Asia Campus students will have access to flight training, as the Singapore institution has no physical training program of its own.

 


“It’s a win-win for everyone,” said Dr. John Watret, chancellor of Embry-Riddle Worldwide and chairman of the Embry-Riddle Asia Board of Directors. “Our students will get this unique, two-campus, hands-on study abroad experience and the aviation industry will be able to start meeting those growing needs for highly educated and experienced pilots.”

 


Once their commercial license with instrument and multi-engine ratings are in hand, students will return to Singapore to complete Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) licensing requirements. The program will launch this June with four students; grads get a guaranteed job interview with Singapore Airlines.

 


“We are very pleased to team up with Embry-Riddle to provide us with a potential new source for qualified pilots,” said Capt. Quay Chew Eng, senior v-p flight operations, Singapore Airlines. “The partnership will help support our growth in the years ahead, and complement our own cadet pilot training.”

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