AIS Airlines and Eastern Airways have announced a partnership which will give pilots on the AIS cadet scheme a conditional job offer with Eastern Airways.
AIS Flight Academy, based at Lelystad Airport, Netherlands, offers a self-sponsored cadet scheme, providing students with an employment contract of at least one year, after passing the theoretical training and before finishing flight training. A recent statement from the airline explains that, under the new venture, pilots who join AIS under this scheme will have a conditional job offer with Eastern Airways and may transfer across to Eastern when recommended by AIS Airlines, typically within 6-12 months.
A representative for the airline explained, “Our future pilots are looking for an interesting, varied and challenging flying career starting on multi-crew Jetstream 31/32 with AIS and then onto the larger Jetstream 41 aircraft with Eastern Airways, with further opportunities on the high speed Saab 2000 and Embraer 145 and 170 fleets as a progression path. Alternatively, early command opportunities are also available at Eastern Airways for quality individuals once a minimum of 2000 flying hours has been attained.”
Pilots will transfer initially onto the Jetstream 41 (pilots will be bonded for the Eastern Airways type rating with no up-front costs), to be based at the operational hub in Aberdeen although other base opportunities may be available. Pilots who join under this scheme will also receive an Eastern Airways start date for salary purposes from the date of joining the scheme at AIS.
Eastern Airways currently operates 17 Jetstream 41s, 9 Saab 2000s, 3 Embraer 145s and 2 Embraer 170s on a variety of scheduled, series charter and Ad hoc flights, they are based predominantly in the UK with some operations in France. More Embraer aircrafts are expected to join the fleet in 2017. AIS Airlines currently operates 10 Jetstream 31s and Boeing 737s are expected to join the fleet in the near future.