Southampton-based airline pilot training and resourcing company CTC Aviation, has entered into a five-year partnership agreement with Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) airline Wizz Air.

CTC is to provide selection and training services for Wizz’s new airline pilot career programme.

The new programme has been designed to enable graduates to join the airline directly as co-pilots, flying Airbus A320 aircraft on the Wizz Air European network.

The programme supports a growing need by the airline for additional high quality co-pilots trained full-time as airline pilots from the outset, says the company, and also to meet a planned future need for Wizz Air Captains as their fleet growth plans take effect.

Wizz Air will provide a job guarantee (subject to achieving proficiency) upon successful completion of training, assisting the trainees to access the required funding for the programme which is also underpinned by CTC WINGS Training Sponsorship from CTC Aviation.

The inaugural year will see 28 recruits embark upon a journey from trainee through to co-pilot at latest generation CTC Aviation Crew Training Centres in the UK andNZ or USA; training on Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS) and Traffice Advisory System (TAS) equipped Diamond DA40 and DA42 aircraft and Airbus A320 full-flight simulators.

The programme is expected to expand rapidly to over 40 enrolees per annum by year three.

The Wizz Air career programme lasts for approximately 18-months and comprises an initial 6-months of classroom and ATPL theoretical knowledge training, followed by 9 months of professional flight training at either a Crew Training Centre in Hamilton New Zealand or Phoenix, Arizona.

The programme also offers the exciting opportunity to elect to complete a BSc Honours Degree in Professional Aviation Pilot Practice.

David Morgan, Head of Flight Operations and Chief Pilot at Wizz Air, said; “Our people are at the heart of Wizz Air and we’re delighted to offer this opportunity to a whole new generation of airline pilots.

"They’ll become part of the Wizz Air family from day one and will enjoy an amazing opportunity to be employed directly as a co-pilot on our fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft with a career potential to become a Captain and beyond into management.

"It’s an exciting chapter in our history to be able to offer these new flying career opportunities within the CEE and the EU and we’re looking forward to finding our talented flight crew for the future.”

CTC Aviation’s Chief Commercial Officer, Anthony Petteford added - “We are honoured that Wizz Air has chosen us as a training partner to deliver their new airline pilot career programme.

"A key focus for us is to enable aspiring pilots from both the CEE and throughout the EU to enter the flight deck for a complete flying career with Wizz Air We have developed this new CTC WINGS airline pilot career programme for the airline with just this sort of career opportunity in mind.”

Captain David Morgan will be speaking at CTC Aviation’s Careers Event on Saturday 30 May 2015 at CTC Aviation’s Crew Training Centre in Southampton.

More details at ctcaviation.com