On the Record: Alexandre Alvez, Global COO and CCO at Airways Aviation Group
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The author completed a brief, but wide-ranging interview with Alexandre Alvez, Global COO and CCO at Airways Aviation Group (Airways Aviation), earlier last month. The corporate executive shared insights on diverse topics from across his portfolio: the organization’s academic structure; training aircraft; simulators; corporate governance; and the company’s 2025 business roadmap – for starters.
Ab Initio Training Philosophy as One Differentiator
Airways Aviation is solidifying its presence as a training provider in 14 nations with different levels of academies. The corporate executive moved beyond geography, and explained his organization’s academic structure starting at the foundation course level. Aspiring pilots are thoroughly accessed over a month-long course for their level of proficiency in English, math, physics and other subjects, also with the help of a desk-top simulator. The executive explained, “They complete at the end a test similar to a PPL exam. We may encourage them to seek another profession, strengthen their math or other skills and come back in the near future if they don’t pass. Or, if they are fully ready, we provide options for them to continue – at our different training sites, at different prices, pursuing different licenses, etc. As far as I know there is no other ab initio training organization providing what we do. This differentiates us from the others, we offer a low-cost solution that guarantees wannabe pilots and their families that they only make the high investment needed for a pilot course, once they have all the foundations to successfully do it.” Symbiotics is Airways Aviation’s partner in completing its student accession evaluations.
Alvez then segued to two foundations – training aircraft and training devices – of Airways Aviation’s training capacity.
Diamond as Key to Training Aircraft Fleet
Airways Aviation maintains a robust fleet of training aircraft. In one instance, the organization has a fleet of 30 Diamond aircraft in its European training schools. Elsewhere, “In Australia, we changed our fleet to Cessna and Piper due to some local issues and availability of parts at that time, but are slowly transitioning back to Diamond. We have just acquired our first DA-42 for Australia and now have there 17 total aircraft,” the executive added.
Preferences for Capable Flight Training Devices
Alvez also reiterated his organization’s preference for capable, certified flight training devices as opposed to full-flight simulators (FFS). Sixteen training devices are in Airways Aviation’s network. ALSIM has provided six of the simulators that meet the organization’s requirements for initial phase training needs (PPL, CPL, IR/ME). One recent ALSIM model, the ALSIM250, is also SEP/MEP re-configurable simulator and certified as an EASA FNPT II. Mechtronix and other training device brands also populate the organization’s
network. “We are not considering full-flight simulators (FFS) but the FTD does make sense for initial parts of type ratings, proper MCC programs and because we are bidding for many MPL programs. That means we could do some parts of the type rating training in the FTD, instead of just the core phase.” Without providing details, Alvez noted Airways Aviation is actively considering the buy of additional FTDs for its network.
Corporate 2025 Roadmap
For 2025, Airways Aviation’s strategic plan will pivot to a degree, from a major focus on opening in new markets to consolidating and strengthening its presence in existing markets. In one case, the organization will open a new training site in Portugal. “We will announce this plan no later than next February,” the corporate executive added. Beyond that, “we will have several, large B2B contracts – probably the largest in the industry outside the US. Increasing the fleet is part of it. What you will certainly see is Airways expanding in 2025 in the markets where we already operate, also opening a third location in Italy – a fair-weather base in the south of Italy. We are also going to open a ground school in Paris.” Airways Aviation is eyeing other flight school acquisitions, in India, Europe and beyond.
Agile and Nimble Governance
Airways Aviation is successfully expanding and responding to customer and the broader community’s requirements highlighted above – and others – due to its agile and nimble leadership profile. Beyond Alvez, there is Romy Hawat, Founder & Chairman, Captain Mauro Calvano, President of Airways Aviation Europe and surrounding territories and Janet Dalby, Australasia Pacific Region Chief Executive Officer. The COO and CCO pointed out all of the corporate decisions are “made really, really fast. This again differentiates us from our competitors.” The executive noted this business model recently encouraged and enabled Airways Aviation Group to acquire the Italian commercial aviation flight school Professione Volare this September. Reflecting on the transaction, Alvez said, “We can easily triple the activity without doing any kind of major investment. We have enough fleet, staff
and facility – we saw the potential and made a very quick decision.”
Forecasting More Growth
Aside from the disappointing rates of new aircraft deliveries from Airbus and Boeing this October and other industry-wide challenges, Alvez remains positive on the prospect for growth in his community segment. “I still see the growth in the industry. It’s not as great as everyone was expecting but the replacement of pilots who are retiring means we will need many more new individuals entering training. And while the growth is slow – there is still growth!”
