HC Deb 06 May 1959 vol 605 cc388-9
44. Mr. D. Price

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he is aware of the need to provide adequate facilities for the training ab initio of civil pilots; what steps he is taking to provide such facilities; and whether he will make a statement.

The Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation (Mr. John Hay)

I agree that unless special steps are taken very soon a shortage of younger pilots will occur after 1961. In co-operation with the Minister of Education and the airlines, my right hon. Friend has devised a scheme for the setting up of a College of Air Training at Hamble next year, and the Government have undertaken to pay a substantial grant towards the cost of running this new college. I will, with permission, circulate details of the scheme in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

I am sure the House will be glad to know of this entirely new venture in education which is designed to ensure that civil airline pilots of the future reach the highest possible standards in training.

Mr. Price

While thanking my hon. Friend for this very satisfactory outcome to our somewhat prolonged negotiations over the future of air service training, may I ask him to indicate what effect the creation of this new college will have on employment in this district?

Mr. Hay

I am grateful for what my hon. Friend has said. I am sorry that this has perhaps taken rather longer to bring to fruition than we had hoped, but I am sure that the House as a whole will wish this new "University of the Air" every success in the future. With regard to the second part of my hon. Friend's supplementary question, I cannot say precisely what the effect will be on employment in the Hamble district, but we certainly hope that the existing facilities will be given very careful consideration in the new arrangement which will be made.

Mr. Beswick

I am sure that everybody wi11 be pleased that a decision has been taken in this matter, and my hon. Friends and I hope that it will be a satisfactory and permanent solution to a problem which has been with us for some time. We shall have to study what has been said. I was not clear about how the capital is to be provided.

Mr. Hay

Very briefly, although the full details are in the statement which I propose to circulate, the position is that British Overseas Airways Corporation and British European Airways will form, or have formed, a subsidiary company to which they will make joint contributions, and the money so provided will be used for the purchase of Air Service Training's establishment already in existence at Hamble. I think that the hon. Gentleman had better look at the details. They are somewhat complicated, especially on the financial side.

Sir W. Anstruther-Gray

Arising out of the original reply, may I ask my hon. Friend to bear in mind that there is an admirable school for training pilots at Perth in Scotland? Will my hon. Friend give an assurance that this new school will not interfere with the good work done at Perth?

Mr. Hay

Yes. I am well aware of the school at Perth. We regard it as an excellent school indeed. We are very satisfied with the standard of training there. The purpose of the new college at Hamble will be the training of pilots from the United Kingdom. The school at Perth trains a large number of pilots who come to the United Kingdom from other parts of the Commonwealth. I cannot guarantee that the situation will remain indefinitely unchanged, but our expectation is that the school at Perth still has a good future before it.

Following are the details of the scheme: The college, to be called The College of Air Training, Hamble, will open in the autumn of 1960 at Hamble aerodrome using facilities at present owned by Air Service Training Ltd. The facilities arc to be purchased on behalf of the Board by the Airways Corporations at a price already agreed. The college will he administered by a Board of Governors embodied under a Trust Deed and nominated by the Chairmen of the Airways Corporations and the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation. The British Independent Air Transport Association has agreed in principle to participation in the scheme. It is proposed that the Board of Governors will be composed of the following members: 1 from the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation. 1 from the Ministry of Education. 1 representative expert on educational administration. 3 from British Overseas Airways Corporation. 3 from British European Airways Corporation. There will also be a provision to enable the British Independent Air Transport Association to nominate a Governor. The training will consist of a course of about two years' duration in which flying instruction will be integrated with a thorough grounding in navigation, aerodynamics. meteorology, engineering and other aspects of airmanship such as aviation law. The aim is to develop to the fullest extent possible in each cadet those qualities of self reliance and dependability which go to make a good airline pilot. The cadets will be expected to live in. First-class sports and recreational facilities will be provided. Cadets will be sponsored by the airline operator requiring their services. Fifty cadets will be sponsored by B.O.A.C. for the first year. During the four following years the Airways Corporations are expected to sponsor a maximum of 110 new cadets each year. In the third year and onwards therefore, the students will number about 220. The requirements of the independent airline operators and others cannot at this stage be precisely foreseen but the college will be open to the nominees of all British airlines as their demands require. The cost of training each pilot is expected ultimately to approximate £4,000 (excluding fees and board and lodging in the college against which it is possible that maintenance grants from local education authorities may be available in appropriate cases; my right hon. Friend the Minister of Education is consulting the local authorities associations about this). During the first two or three years, however, the cost per pilot will exceed this figure. The Government will contribute a grant of £1,000 per pilot trained with extra assistance to meet the additional costs during the first two years. The sponsors will find the remaining sum of approximately £3,000 per cadet. State grants to the scheme are estimated to total approximately £100,000 to £120,000 per year from the outset. An announcement will be made in the near future explaining how prospective candidates should apply and the conditions of entry to the college.