Middle Eastern Airlines Continue to Expand

As some U.S. major airlines ground their most fuel-inefficient aircraft and eliminate unprofitable routes, Middle Eastern carriers are expanding as fast as they can. They hope to be able to redefine the region as the new crossroads in global aviation. According to Airbus' chief executive, Thomas Enders "these airlines are on a very impressive growth path and expansion course."

Airbus has recently delivered a new A380 jumbo jet to the chairman of Emirates. Emirates Airlines has increased its orders to Airbus to 58 planes in the past eight years. And just last month, the airlines signed another letter of intent for an additional 60 jets totalling more than $13 Billion. Emirates Airlines has focused on Dubai's central location. The plan is to link places that were not already linked, such as China and Africa. The Middle East is also spending nearly $55 billion on airport expansion, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

In total airlines in the Middle East have ordered 700 new planes in the last three years, costing about $140 Billion. Etihad Airlines just last month order 100 new aircraft, including 10 new Airbus A380s. According to the airline, the size of their order mirrors the rising prominence of the Middle East and its emergence as a new focal point in global aviation. Passenger travel between the Middle East and Africa rose 20% in the first five months of 2008, and 14% between the Middle East and the Far East. In eight capital cities on the Indian subcontinent, Emirates already offers travelers to the U.S. a chance to change planes in Dubai, rather than go through congested European airports.

More on Funding for Pilot Training

Students who seek loans from banks can often increase their chances of being approved for a private  loan and getting lower interest rates, if a parent or another creditworthy adult agrees to be a co-signer.

When it comes to student loans, credit requirements and interest rates vary from lender to lender, so that the same person who is denied a loan by one could be approved by another.  So be sure to check with multiple sources -- and don't get discouraged if you are initially denied.   

Though only a very small part of student lending, so-called "peer-to-peer" web sites llike www.fynanz.com, www.greennote.com and www.virginmoney.com have recently sprung up. They offer student borrowers the chance to seek loans from friends, family and even strangers. Students post the amount they want, the interest rate they are willilng to pay and some details about themselves and their studies. In some cases, the "loan" involves money from multiple lenders. In the case of Fynanz, for example, you pay a small fee for processing the loans. Financial industry observers say such lending sites are an interesting option, though most haven't been around long enough to develop much of a track record.  Phoenix East provides this information not as a recommendation or an endorsement, but as one more avenue for students to explore for themselves.

Other resources for U.S. students include Federal Aviation Administration's Aviation and Space Education Outrreach Program Aviation Scholarships, NBAA Scholarships (13 annual scholarships to promote professional development and business aviation careers), Young Eagles and EAA assistance, AOPA Flight Training, and Landings.com (for aviation scholarship links).

To further supplement education funds, many students also work part-time at jobs with some flexibility in working hours, to allow time for ground schools and flight training.

For international students who need financial assistance for flight training in the U.S., checking with banks and government agencies in your home country is usually the best place to begin;  Some provide funding for career education in other countries. Also, if the student has a relative in the U.S. who is creditworthy, that aunt or brother might be able to co-sign with you on a loan to cover flight training and living expenses.

For more information, talk to an Admissions Officer at Phoenix East.  Call 1-386-258-0703 (worldwide) or 1-800-868-4359 (from the U.S.)

New Opportunities for Pilots

Low-cost U.S. carriers are being presented with a new market opportunity, as some of the major airlines, such as Delta and United, reduce service to some cities.  Low-cost carriers are typically hungry for these new chances created by the larger airlines.

For example, Allegiant Airlines sees competitors' capacity cuts as the silver lining of fuel price increases. The airline plans to open new routes to popular destination Las Vegas, where US Airways has just decreased flights.  AirTran Airways also announced last month that it will increase its service to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, following Midwest Air's capacity reduction there. One of AirTan's new Milwaukee flights, to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is a direct replacement of a Midwest flight that was cut.

For new pilots -- or if you are considering flight training and a career as an airline pilot -- this can be good news.  New pilots with minimum flight time are most often first hired by regional and low-cost carriers, so as these carriers expand, so do the opportunities for new pilots.  You could be an airline pilot very soon. Check out www.pea for more information -- you could be wearing the uniform of a student pilot as soon as next month! 

The Cost of Aviation Fuel

Most flight schools now have what is called a fuel surcharge, which is in addition to a flight training program cost.  This covers the increasing cost of fuel, which, as you know if you have a car, has been increasing quite rapidly.  If a flight school did not have this fuel surcharge, they would have to change their training prices all the time -- making it confusing for the student, the prospective student, and the school itself.

Even many airlines charge fuel surcharges now, on top of your ticket price -- or they build in the increasing cost of fuel into their ticket price. And if you fly on commercial flights, you know the price of a ticket can change from one day to the next, depending on many things, including the cost of flying that aircraft.

To help you better understand the situation, let's talk about commercial airlines. Between 2000 and the first quarter of 2008, the price of oil has risen from $30.38 to more than $135. However, U.S. domestic air fares (adjusted for inflation) have actually decreased over the same time period. Hence the problem. And fuel expenses now account for 40% of passenger revenue, up from 15% in 2000.

As you know, the commercial airline industry has continued to grow in spite of this. There is still a great need for pilots.  To find out more about flight training and a career for yourself as a commercial pilot, contact Phoenix East Aviation.

So Your Mother is Concerned about Your Safety if You Become a Pilot? Not to Worry, Mom!

Changes in safety improvements have been quite dramatic. Going back to the beginning of the jet age, in 1959 Boeing research indicated one fatal accident for every 30,000 commercial jet flights. By 2006 the rate for all airlines had dropped to only one accident for every 4.3 million commercial flights by Western-built jets, according to Flight Safety Foundation, a non-profit research group.

An American's chance of being in a fatal plane crash last year was only one in 432,484, says the U.S. National Safety Council. Compare that with your chances of being in a fatal car crash -- one in 19,216. That calculates to a lifetime risk of one chance in 5,552 in a commercial airplane vs. one chance in 247 in a car.

And if you live in Europe, crash rates are very similar to the U.S. Asia and the Pacific are rapidly improving, as is South America.  It is not easy today to fly an American jetliner into a mountain, for example, because satellites can tell a crew where the plane is, even when visibility is zero.

Today, new airplanes have what is called "glass cockpits," or flat-panel displays driven by computers, that detect and categorize any problem. Phoenix East Aviation uses aircraft with glass cockpits in training also. Commercial aircraft also have anti-collision equipment that "talk" to the corresponding system on other commerical aircraft in the area and decide which plane will climb and which will not, in the event they get too close to one another. If you lower the landing gear and descend, for example, some cockpit warning systems will sound an alarm, if no runway is in the immediate area.

There have been impressive improvements on the ground also. Radars at some airports can now spot dangerous storms that were once not visible: they do so by observing the movement of dust particles in the air. 

The FAA's top safety official gave an industry speech a couple years ago during which he said he was often asked to identify the most frequent causes of airliner crashes. His anwer was "In the U.S. and the developed world, there are no major causes, Fatal airline accidents are such rare events that there are no longer what qualifies as 'common causes.'"

So tell you Mom not to worry about your safety.  Do you want to know more about becoming an airline pilot? Check out www.pea.com for a wealth of new information.

Paying For Flight Training

There is no question: Flight training is not inexpensive.  However, it is typically considerably less expensive to learn to fly and receive your certificates and ratings in the U.S. than it is in Europe and Asia.  And in many countries in Africa and Asia, there is simply not the professional flight training easily available that is needed to become a career pilot.  In addition, there is the weather factor: In many places, the weather is just not consistently good enough for daily flying, so building your flight hours takes a long, long time.  That's one of the reasons Florida is such a popular place to learn to fly -- as well as having a lower cost of living than many areas in the U.S.

How can you fund flight training?  Many students take out loans. If you are a U.S. or international student, you may want to contact your bank first and see if they can help. Specialty loans, such as those used for career training, require good credit or a co-signer, but may carry terms and options that are attractive to student borrowers and more favorable than traditional loans. Phoenix East also has relationships with Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Sallie Mae for loans. Call an Admissions Officer at Phoenix East Aviation for more details about this.

There are also some scholarships available. Scholarships and grants are awarded on talent, merit or special circumstances, depending on the organization that is granting the scholarship. One way to use scholarship money is to apply for many of them.  Small grants and scholarships -- often $200-$1,500 -- don't have as many applicants as the bigger money scholarships. Here are some resources to get you started.

Able Flight (ableflight.org),

FAA Education Resources:(faa.gov/education_research/education/student_resources/scholarships_grants/index.cfm),

AvScholars (avscholars.com),

Aviation Scholarships(aviation-scholarship.com)                                                                                                                              

Women in Aviation International (wai.org/education/scholarships.cfm)

U.S. Department of Education (studentaid.ed.gov)            

For more details on funding your pilot training, talk to an Admissions Officer at Phoenix East. Call 1-800-868-4359 (U.S.) or 1-386-258-0703 (worldwide).

What's Going on in India in Aviation?

India's commercial aviation industry continues to grow.  We have heard that the rate of growth may be slowing a bit -- from incredible to just very strong.  Airlines continue to seek pilots, and airport traffic is still growing.

The most recent statistics indicate that India's international airline traffic growth was between 15% and 20% for most of 2007. In 2008 its rate of growth has been averaging around 11%.  Still pretty impressive.  In May 2008 alone, Delhi and Mumbai (which cater to around half of all international passengers) saw traffic increase by 7% and 9.5% respectively. At Chennai and Cochin airports, international traffic was up 18% and 28% respectively.

So International traffic is now higher than the rate of domestic airline traffic growth. However,  domestic traffic growth is still robust: Among India's busiest airports Jaipur is up 26% and Cochin (domestic traffic) is up 22%.