OREANDA-NEWS. The Lufthansa Pilots’ School in Bremen will start taking on new trainee pilots again this coming March. A total of nine courses are planned for 2014, meaning that 120 training places will be available. The number of places could increase even further, depending on economic developments. There will also be another 24 places on the ‘International Programme for Aviation Systems Technology and Management’, starting in October 2014. Lufthansa stopped taking on new trainee pilots in August last year, as its requirements in this area were covered until 2015. Aptitude testing continued, however, and 3,062 people had already applied by 30 September this year. Germanwings has taken on 147 trainee pilots so far this year; a total of 200 new pilots are expected to be deployed within the Lufthansa Group in the coming year.

A number of changes will be made to the pilot training programme in future. All new trainees will complete one to two paid, four-month practical secondments in the Lufthansa Group’s ground departments before beginning their final simulator training. This will enable them to gain insights into exciting specialist areas and make use of potential gaps while they are waiting to be deployed. The training course is therefore expected to last 29 to 33 months. Trainees will now pay EUR 70,000 towards their training costs – Lufthansa will provide this amount on an interest- and repayment-free basis until the pilots receive their first salary payment in a permanent position. In return, the airline will continue to offer what is undoubtedly one of the most modern and high-quality training courses in the world. The starting salary for co-pilots is currently around EUR 63,000 per year (including extra pay for shift work).