Wings of desire: The students of apprenticeship programme pose for a photograph with Civil Aviation Minister Jayant Sinha at Air India hangar, Kalina, on Thursday. more-in Mumbai: Boeing and Air India Engineering Services Ltd (AIESL) on Thursday kicked off a first-of-its-kind, one-year accelerated aircraft maintenance engineer apprenticeship programme in India. The programme, part of the the government’s skill development initiative, will be run as a finishing school and conducted at the Air India engineering facility in Kalina. It will also include working on an operational Boeing aircraft. Boeing has set up a smart classroom for the first batch of 25 students and come equipped with advanced training aids, along with a customised curriculum created by Boeing experts to skill aircraft maintenance engineers (AMEs). “Students will be instructed by qualified Air India instructors who have been trained by Boeing in the U.S. The AMEs will also get exposure on a Boeing aircraft, which will help them hone their maintenance skills and increase their employability,” Pratyush Kumar, president, Boeing India, said. Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha, who inaugurated the programme, termed it a milestone for Boeing’s skill India initiatives. “Hands-on experience on an aircraft, a state-of-the-art classroom with a world-class curriculum will help AMEs,” he said. Boeing and AIESL came together after realising that a lack of practical training has resulted in low employability of AMEs, of which only 2% receive type-rated licences. “To fill this gap, we announced the programme in 2017. It has received over 1,300 applications for the entrance examination which was held online across 10 cities in India,” Mr. Kumar said. Marc Allen, president, Boeing International, said the aircraft manufacturer is proud to be a partner in this initiative in one of the fastest growing civil aviation markets in the world. “We are committed to helping catalyse the growth of special skills needed for the Indian aerospace ecosystem, and create a capable workforce.” H.R. Jagannath, CEO, AIESL, said the collaboration will create many opportunities. “This brings together a best-in-class curriculum and training aids to create a state-of-the-art smart class setting, which will create a stronger pool of skilled AMEs,” he said. Classes for the first batch will begin in August.

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