The council, which already features the bosses of Jet2.com, easyJet and Virgin Atlantic, as well as the UK’s major airports and representatives of the industry’s main trade bodies like Airlines UK, Bar UK and Iata, will meet for the fourth time on Monday (30 October) to discuss and continue "its progress towards futureproofing the UK aviation sector".
Through its membership of the council, Tui has pledged, specifically, to take a leading contributory role to the training of a new generation of aviation personnel, and to open up career opportunities for a wider range of prospective entrants.
The Department for Transport said that since the council’s last meeting, "considerable progress" had been made on reducing barriers to entry into the aviation sector and enhancing the use of apprenticeships "to open up routes for young people to join an industry that may have previously seemed inaccessible".
"This progress will be supported by Tui’s addition to the council," said the DfT. "Tui champion their own multi-crew pilot licence (MPL) cadet programme, which sees applicants train as a pilot before becoming a cadet pilot for Tui."
Tui Group’s chief airline officer, Marco Ciomperlik, will be the European travel giant’s representative on the council. The airline and operator pays in the first instance for its training, which graduate pilots then pay off when they progress into the industry "helping those who otherwise wouldn’t be able to pay for the required training".
The DfT said Tui’s addition to the council would "only help bolster the council’s accrued knowledge".
The council’s efforts to create new pathways into the sector form part of the joint government-industry Generation Aviation programme, which the DfT said over the course of the year had engaged more than 75,000 young people and jobseekers through its roadshows, educational visits and general outreach.
“We will continue to push the UK aviation industry forward as we welcome newest member Tui, which has a strong record of delivering jobs and skills, bolstering the UK’s aviation workforce for the future," said aviation minister Baroness Vere of Norbiton.
Meanwhile, the DfT said the latest meeting of the council would consider reforms to futureproof the section, open up opportunities to launch new routes and create new destinations, provide more choice and value for consumers, and reduce delays.
One focus will be airspace modernisation, with a view to making it easier and more efficient to manage UK airspace while reducing aviation emissions. Another will be reforming the UK’s airport slot regime, again, to make environmental efficiencies while maintaining competition and improving reliability.
Vere added: "The UK aviation sector is one of the most competitive in the world and is a significant contributor to growth and jobs both domestically and internationally so it’s vital the Aviation Council collaborates to help to build on that sustainably."
