L to R; Mrs. Wendy Francette-Williams, CEO of the M.B.I.A, Grenada; Hon. Clarice Modeste-Curwen, Grenada’s Minister of Tourism & Civil Aviation; Mr. Domenic Proscia, Vice President of Training, Vaughn College of Aeronautic Engineering, Aviation and Technology; and Mr. Mike St. Laurent, Airport Strategy and Marketing.
No investment is too large when it comes to the education and development of a people. And that is the primary driver behind the introduction of the multi-million dollar Grenada Aviation Training Center at the Maurice Bishop International Airport (MBIA) that was commissioned in late November 2016.
Launched by General Manager of the MBIA, Mrs. Wendy Francette-Williams, the facility forms part of an overall Grenada Aviation Academy, poised to be the one-stop-shop Aviation Academy for the Caribbean.
In her opening remarks the General Manager said, “The development of our people and our employees would ensure continuity of our operations in a safe, secure and customer focused manner and of course keep up with the standards and recommended practices of the industry.”
The vision of the center reflects exactly that – a facility that will provide aviation training opportunities in the field of aviation for the people of Grenada, Carriacou, Petite Martinique and the wider region.
The facility will offer in 2017 aviation courses in the areas of Aircraft Maintenance, Flight Dispatch Operations, Flight and Airport Operations and Tourism based courses. It will also serve as a General Flight School in partnership with the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority (ECCAA), Vaughn Aeronautical College and relevant stakeholders of the industry.
“This is the dawn of a new era when joint venture arrangements can be made with other aviation entities in the business such as ICAO, IATA, and ACI. They would be engaged to carry out the objectives and goals of this training facility. In February 2017, Amerijet Cargo Airline has promised to hand over an aircraft to the GAA.” This aircraft which was going to pasture will be utilized for training at our facility and for local school tours.
In December 2015, a detailed feasibility study was conducted by the MMM Group, which cited an Aviation Academy in Grenada that could become a centre of excellence in the Caribbean. The study cited potential courses in Aviation Management, Security Management, Aircraft Maintenance and Design of Airframes, and a Flight School. The facility was also cited as having the potential to host recurrent training programmes in the aviation industry.
This overall project is earmarked to use most of the existing facilities at the old Pearls Airport site.
To realize this goal, the GAA has expressed a keen interest in exploring relationships with North American or European Aviation learning facilities that could see Grenada serving as a Caribbean campus for continued study or serve as a continued learning facility during winter programmes.
