The aviation training company Baltic Aviation Academy was the first company in the region to offer a new service - leasing of flight and cabin crew.
The first formed Lithuanian aircraft crews (consisting of aircraft pilots and flight attendants) have already began working for the Kazakh and Tajik airlines under the lease agreements. In addition, these countries` airlines lease Boeing aircraft from the Lithuanian aviation business group Avia Solutions Group.
"When changing the airlines` aircraft fleets and acquiring new type aircraft a need of the newly acquired aircraft crew often arises for a short time, i.e. until the airlines` pilots undergo retraining. In order to start operating the newly leased aircraft and avoid waiting for the newly trained pilots, we offer our customers a short-term lease of the crews ready to fly. Such service remains relevant in both aircraft fleet change cases and personnel change, illness, expansion of activities and other situations, when additional aircraft crew capacity is required for a short time", the Baltic Aviation Academy Director Lina Rutkauskienė explained the need for the service.
According to her, the crew leasing service allows airlines to avoid the aircraft downtime and breaches of the flight schedule, reduces administrative costs and helps to avoid short-term recruitment of new staff.
L. Rutkauskienė explained that temporary crew members are the Baltic Aviation Academy employees, for a short period of time carrying out en-route flights fixed by the airline company that ordered the service. Baltic Aviation Academy offers a crew of the required size and category, which is ready to work. The crew start their work at the customer required location, time and routes.
The service was started providing to short-term orders; however, airlines will be able to lease flight crews for longer periods as well, thus significantly reducing the operator`s costs in the field of crew training, work time accounting and administration.
Baltic Aviation Academy provides both European and Asian airlines with the aircraft crew training, retraining and formation services.