Aeronautical Engineering Apprentices launch their new career at Newquay Cornwall Airport
16/05/2011
12 Resource Group apprentices are launching their new careers today at Newquay Cornwall Airport. They have been through a rigorous interviewing and testing process and have been selected from over 150 applicants. They will be the first Aeronautical Engineering Apprentices to be trained in conjunction with Newquay Cornwall Airport, supporting the expansion of the county’s skills base and contributing towards the Airport’s ambition to attract MRO businesses.
 | Resource Group is working with Lufthansa Resource Technical Training (LRTT), their joint venture company with Lufthansa Technical Training, to deliver a co-ordinated employment and training programme for Newquay Cornwall Airport. Resource Group will act as an Apprentice Training Association (ATA) and employ the apprentices throughout the programme and manage the placement phase which provides the work experience element. LRTT is an EASA Part 147 approved maintenance training organisation and will deliver and manage the training phase of the programme and the apprentice. The training will result in the apprentices receiving globally recognised industry qualifications. After completing the 2 year programme the apprentices will be qualified EASA Part 66 Category A which will allow them to certify Line Maintenance tasks on commercial aircraft. |
The apprenticeship programme will start with 23 days training on site at Newquay Cornwall Airport with the remainder of the 8 months training taking place at LRTT’s training centre at the Cotswold Airport in Gloucestershire. This will be followed by 16 months vocational work experience coordinated by Resource Group which could be at Newquay, elsewhere in the UK or in mainland Europe.
Resource Group has been working with aircraft maintenance companies across Europe for the past 20 years providing many millions of hours of support for Airlines, MRO Organisations, Helicopter Operators and Military customers. Based on previous programmes delivered by Resource Group this scheme has been designed to provide an employment and training opportunity for young people wishing to enter the Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) sector while also providing potential employers (locally, nationally and internationally) the opportunity to gain access to apprentices during the work placement with a view to potential employment at the end of the programme. The overall aim of the project is to increase the skill base within the MRO sector while at the same time helping to sustain the growth of Newquay Cornwall Airport.
The Apprenticeship is being part funded through A4E’s National Apprenticeship Agreement with the Skills Funding Agency and the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly ESF Convergence Programme. Newquay for Excellence Training (NFET) who are providing the local link between the Lufthansa Resource Technical Training (LRTT) and the ESF Convergence Programme for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, said “We have been delighted by the County response to these Apprenticeship opportunities. They attracted amazing response and we look forward to seeing the 12 Apprentices grow and develop over the coming months. This opportunity is phenomenal for Cornwall and we look forward to assisting in the growth of the industry.”
John Larkin, Managing Director of Resource Group comments: “We are delighted to be part of developing the next generation of maintenance personnel. We are dedicated to Aerospace and take our commitments seriously to help support future growth of the industry.”
| Ian Fitzpatrick, General Manager of LRTT comments: “LRTT is looking forward tremendously to training and developing the 12 apprentices that have been selected for our Advanced Apprenticeship in Aeronautical Engineering. They are all high quality candidates that I am confident will provide a core of skilled aviation maintenance professionals for current and future employers at Newquay Cornwall Airport. The delivery of this project is a credit to the region and all of the contributors that have made it possible, not least the critical contribution of our parent company Resource Group as the apprentice employer. I firmly believe that this programme will be the first of many as we seek to identify further training and development opportunities working with our collaborative partners in support of Newquay Cornwall Airport.’’ |  |
Al Titterington, Newquay Cornwall Airport’s Managing Director said: “This apprentice programme is important to the future development of the aerospace sector here at Newquay Cornwall Airport. The development of high quality skills is vitally important in order to support the further development of highly specialist maintenance and engineering operations envisaged for aviation sector.”
Mark Williams, Skills Funding Agency comments: ”The Agency is delighted to be supporting this unique Apprenticeship programme. It is proving that the critical investment decisions needed to ensure the success of the airport masterplan can be achieved if we provide programmes responding directly to the needs of the business. ESF Convergence combined with the Apprenticeship programme has created the funding environment within which this partnership can succeed in providing the industry standard EASA programme. This will create opportunities and jobs for these Cornish Apprentices anywhere in the world. I wish the Apprentices well with their endeavours and applaud the collaboration of the partners including LRTT, Resource Group, NfET and Newquay Cornwall airport as it shows once again how strong we are in Cornwall at working together to secure the best programmes we can to increase the skills base of our workforce and secure better paid employment. Establishing a world class centre of excellence for aeronautical engineering in Newquay is a realistic goal and we can be rightly proud of this first step.”
Carleen Kelemen, Director of the Convergence Partnership Office for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, said “This exciting scheme increases the range of skills training on offer in Cornwall and demonstrates the varied potential Newquay Cornwall Airport has to contribute to strengthening our economy.”