<p>British Airways will set aside £21 million ($27.1 million) to support the flight training of 200 further airline pilots.</p>
<p>“The [academy] aims to attract the very best talent for the future generation of pilots while boosting social mobility and diversity within the airline’s pilot community,” the carrier says.</p>
<p>It has been working with community groups to help encourage applicants from candidates who may have previously been put off from applying for a pilot training slot due to the approximately £100,000 cost.</p>
<p style="text-align:center"><img alt="Source BillyPix Melanie Oden " src="/getasset/767e8dd6-061e-4508-a5be-79b959cd93c8/" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><cite>Source: BillyPix</cite></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Melanie Oden (right) began her flight training in April 2024</p>
<p>The airline’s Speedbird Pilot Academy is already training 100 future British Airways pilots, the cost of which is also being covered by the carrier.</p>
<p>“I’m incredibly proud of the Speedbird Pilot Academy and the opportunity it provides to those talented individuals who have held a lifetime ambition of becoming a commercial airline pilot, but have perhaps found it difficult to independently fund their training,” says British Airways chief executive Sean Doyle.</p>
<p>The airline received “thousands” of applications for the last cohort, and has expanded the programme to allow more candidates to pursue flight deck careers.</p>
<p>Melanie Odden, a cadet from near Liverpool who began her flight training in April, says that the scholarship is an unmatched opportunity to fulfil her childhood dream of becoming an airline pilot.</p>
<p>“I never had the chance, growing up, to think about a career like this,” she says. “My family said, ‘You’re a girl, you can’t work in aviation’. As I got older, I said, okay I will take steps on my own to do that.”</p>
<p>Odden worked as cabin crew and also in air traffic control, but the goal of actually flying a commercial aircraft was always at the back of her mind. How to finance her education, however, was a problem for the young mother.</p>
<p>“I would never have been able to pay for an aviation course, so when this opportunity came up, I said, that’s my dream, I have to apply for it,” she says. “I knew it would be super-competitive, and I was determined to do whatever it took to get into the programme.”</p>
<p>Odden expects to graduate with her ATPL certificate in about a year.</p>
<p>“If its something that you really, really want to do you will do what you can to make it work.”</p>
<p>“The [academy] aims to attract the very best talent for the future generation of pilots while boosting social mobility and diversity within the airline’s pilot community,” the carrier says.</p>
<p>It has been working with community groups to help encourage applicants from candidates who may have previously been put off from applying for a pilot training slot due to the approximately £100,000 cost.</p>
<p style="text-align:center"><img alt="Source BillyPix Melanie Oden " src="/getasset/767e8dd6-061e-4508-a5be-79b959cd93c8/" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><cite>Source: BillyPix</cite></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Melanie Oden (right) began her flight training in April 2024</p>
<p>The airline’s Speedbird Pilot Academy is already training 100 future British Airways pilots, the cost of which is also being covered by the carrier.</p>
<p>“I’m incredibly proud of the Speedbird Pilot Academy and the opportunity it provides to those talented individuals who have held a lifetime ambition of becoming a commercial airline pilot, but have perhaps found it difficult to independently fund their training,” says British Airways chief executive Sean Doyle.</p>
<p>The airline received “thousands” of applications for the last cohort, and has expanded the programme to allow more candidates to pursue flight deck careers.</p>
<p>Melanie Odden, a cadet from near Liverpool who began her flight training in April, says that the scholarship is an unmatched opportunity to fulfil her childhood dream of becoming an airline pilot.</p>
<p>“I never had the chance, growing up, to think about a career like this,” she says. “My family said, ‘You’re a girl, you can’t work in aviation’. As I got older, I said, okay I will take steps on my own to do that.”</p>
<p>Odden worked as cabin crew and also in air traffic control, but the goal of actually flying a commercial aircraft was always at the back of her mind. How to finance her education, however, was a problem for the young mother.</p>
<p>“I would never have been able to pay for an aviation course, so when this opportunity came up, I said, that’s my dream, I have to apply for it,” she says. “I knew it would be super-competitive, and I was determined to do whatever it took to get into the programme.”</p>
<p>Odden expects to graduate with her ATPL certificate in about a year.</p>
<p>“If its something that you really, really want to do you will do what you can to make it work.”</p>