OMAN Air, the national airline of the Sultanate of Oman, has restated its commitment to recruiting Omani pilots by publishing detailed eligibility criteria. The criteria will be published in the Omani national media and will offer potential candidates straightforward advice on how Oman Air selects its pilots and what will be expected of them. The move comes following the receipt by Oman Air of hundreds of requests for information about how to apply for a place on the airline's much-coveted cadet pilot training program. It also supports Oman Air's robust and proactive policy of recruiting Omani citizens to positions within all areas of its operations, thereby helping to build a vital and sustainable skills base within the Sultanate. This approach has already seen the highly successful appointment of Omanis to senior management positions, as well as frontline roles, and entry into the cadet pilots training program is seen as the starting point in a long and rewarding career with Oman Air. The selection criteria for the trainee-pilots have been drawn up by the airline's Flight Operations Department based on the global developments in the field of pilot training and they reflect international requirements for obtaining commercial pilot's licenses. The criteria are framed to cover two types of trainee-pilots: those who are sponsored by the airline under the Cadet-Pilot program (Cadet-Pilots), and trainee-pilots who are self-sponsored (Ab-Initio Pilots). Candidates under the first category will must undergo a predetermined assessment process set out by an appointed flying college. In addition they must be Omani nationals not exceeding 26 years old and with minimum educational achievements of General Diploma/Secondary School Certificate, including marks of not less than 80 percent in mathematics, physics and English language. Successful applicants will be enrolled in the Cadet-Pilot Program and will be required to contribute 30 percent of the study cost, with the remaining 70 being covered by Oman Air, and the duties and responsibilities of the trainee and Oman Air will be set out in a contract signed by both parties. Applicants for the self-sponsored (Ab-Initio Pilots) category will, if accepted, undergo the applicable pre-employment assessments provided by Oman Air's appointed flying college, in the same way as all Cadet Pilot applicants. However, in line with international standards, as of 1st January 2013 Oman Air will only consider applicants from one of five internationally-recognized training colleges: Flight Training Europe (Spain); Ayla Flight Academy (Jordan); CAE-OXFORD Flight Academy (UK); CTC wings, (UK); and ENAC, (France). In all cases, Ab-Initio candidates must be no older than 30 years of age and have obtained their JAA CPL/IR-ME qualification with JAA-Frozen APTL. Furthermore, they must have achieved a minimum of 100 hours solo flying time and a minimum of 200 hours total flying time. —SG
