New Zealand Commercial Pilot Academy boss says return to profitability not far away

Gerard Glanville says it was worth keeping the pilot academy alive during Covid-19. Photo / Bevan Conley.

New Zealand Commercial Pilot Academy hopes to return to profit next year after some bumpy times through the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Whanganui facility was down to 19 pilot cadets when the country’s borders were closed during Covid-19 but 60 are currently in training.

It was announced this week that 200 more would be coming over the next three years after a deal was struck between the academy (NZICPA) and Indian airline IndiGo.

Chief executive Gerard Glanville said that involved a lot of negotiating but the biggest hurdle in getting back on track was “watching airlines trying to start themselves up again”.

“They were bringing planes out of hibernation, retraining pilots and getting them current again and captains (had) moved on from a retirement point of view,” he said.

“Not having people in the wings, ready to go, slowed (the airlines) all down and getting back on their feet is not as quick as we think it is.

“You can’t pluck pilots out of the air - we put them there.”

According to the Whanganui District Council’s annual report, the NZICPA group made a loss of $685,034 from trading in the last financial year.

NZICPA is a subsidiary of Whanganui District Council Holdings, a council-controlled organisation.

The report said Holdings was unable to pay a dividend to its shareholders in 2022/23 due to the ongoing impact of Covid-19 on the academy and the financial support required to maintain it during its recovery.

Glanville said the academy had been running at a loss for one reason.

“We didn’t have enough people in the school to run the operation. If Covid hits you and the numbers drop, there’s a choice to stay alive or die as a company.

“The choice was made to be around so we could benefit from the uptick, which we’ll see over the next few years.

“Through all the stakeholder layers, they have been incredible with their support. We’ll bring the benefits to them to show that support was well-founded.”

Financial targets were currently being discussed as part of the budget process, he said.

In raw terms, once student numbers passed 95 to 100, the academy would be back to a profit position.

The first cohort from the new deal will start in early 2024, with 25 students commencing training every three months.

Economic pressure would cause some of the country’s smaller flight schools to collapse but Whanganui wouldn’t be one of them, he said.

“Being small worked in the past, but the way costs have escalated and the way competition is in the world market, you need some volume.

“That‘s what we are aiming for - you need to be big to make it in this game.”

Glanville said Whanganui ratepayers remained at the front of his mind and he wanted to make the academyas resilient as it could be.

That would require “a lot of lateral thinking” but 200 new cadets meant the academy would be operating almost at capacity.

“It was worth keeping it alive and what had to be done had to be done,” he said.

“The next year will tell if our strategy has paid off but it’s looking really good.”

Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.