jpnn.com, JAKARTA - When the aviation industry experienced a decline in the second year of the pandemic, the Indonesian national flying school under the name Bali International Flight Academy (BIFA) remained enthusiastic in producing a number of national pilots.
This year, BIFA graduated 108 pilots with commercial pilot license and multi engine license from eight batches.
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The graduation ceremony certainly brought fresh air to the Indonesian aviation industry.
BIFA, which was founded in 2009, has graduated more than 1,000 pilots and is the largest private pilot school in Indonesia.
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"The aviation industry is closely related to economic growth, which is very vulnerable to environmental factors such as wars, terrorism, natural disasters, and pandemics. The Covid-19 pandemic has really hit the global and national aviation industry, but the economic growth will revive as the national aviation industry improves," BIFA CEO I Gusti Wiradharma B Oka said in a statement, Thursday.
BIFA, which has a home base at Letkol Wisnu Airport, Buleleng, Bali, and Blimbingsari Airport, Banyuwangi, as well as an outbase at Adi Sumarmo Airport, Solo, has faced some operational challenges during the pandemic.
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Although there was a vacuum for three months at the beginning of the pandemic with the cadets returning to their homes, BIFA has been pushing their cadets to complete their education well so thay they are ready to pursue their career as a pilot.
"As an archipelagic country with the fourth largest population in the world, the prospects for the national aviation industry are very good, so the potential for high national market demand for pilots provides an opportunity for national pilot schools such as BIFA to build schools that are strong in business and of high quality," continued Oka.
"BIFA alumni as pilots with international standards are expected to be able to play a positive role in building the national aerospace force, which we believe will develop very rapidly in the near future after the pandemic in line with various government efforts in infrastructure development."
BIFA's integrated education is managed through a series of international-scale teaching and learning activities, with three specific programs.
The first is the private pilot license (PPL) program, which is a private flight pilot certification. The PPL program runs for 14-16 weeks according to the standards of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
Graduates of the PPL program may follow the commercial pilot license (CPL) program, which is an educational program that provides graduates with a certificate of airworthiness for commercial aircraft.
Prospective students who take part in this program must take a series of placement tests according to the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
This education and training program is equipped with this international standard simulation.
"Graduates from the CPL program are reliable pilots who are ready to answer the needs of the international aviation industry," Oka said.
Another educational program is the instrument rating program, which answers the need for professional pilot certifications, both PPL and CPL.
Since 2015, BIFA has also opened multi engine rating and license conversion/endorsement education programs by using three piper seminole aircraft facilities and adequate simulators and trained instructors.
With all the supporting facilities and infrastructure, BIFA can accept around 80 students per year.
BIFA President Commissioner Tience Sumartini, a senior pilot and a glider pilot, said that Indonesia's size was near the size of the United States, but most of America was made up of land and Indonesia was mostly water, which means the domestic aviation business would continue to connect one island to another.
"The aviation business will not be extinct. It will continue to grow over time and will still need reliable pilots," he said.
He said that BIFA graduates had been proven to successfully navigate their careers in both commercial and general aviation industries.
General aviation includes all activities outside of military flights, scheduled airlines and regular cargo such as private flights, flight training, air ambulances, police aircraft, aerial fire fighting, and remote flights.
"The prospect of a pilot is still very bright, this is what we want to underline. The general public may only be familiar with the commercial aviation industry, but the general aviation also provides many job opportunities," said Tience. (rhs/mcr20/jpnn)
This news has been broadcast on JPNN.com with the title: Bali International Flight Academy (BIFA) Luluskan 108 Pilot