Sydney Flight College announces expansion plans for Tamworth

A prominent Australian aviation school plans to increase its intake of students sixfold while investing millions of dollars into its new academy in Tamworth's pilot training facility.

Sydney Flight College (SFC) welcomed its first cohort of 16 students in July last year.

The college is more than doubling that intake with 33 students starting this week, and it's only up from here, the college's CEO Joseph Pilo said in his welcome address to new students.

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"Today's a very special day for all of us here in Tamworth. It's been along journey to get here," Mr Pilo said.

"In the next three years, SFC will be taking four intakes a year to Tamworth, growing to 200 students."

This year the flight school expects to welcome 16 students in May, 32 in August, and another 16 in November, meaning nearly 100 students will be learning concurrently by the end of 2025.

"It's a satisfaction to see SFC has grown from strength to strength and that our operations in Tamworth are on-plan and on-target," Mr Pilo told the Leader.

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SFC's new Tamworth academy is the pilot training facility's first long-term tenant since spring 2021, and the first to use it for it's intended purpose since BAE departed in 2018.

In the interim, the empty facility was burning an $800,000 hole in Tamworth Regional Council's wallet.

But now SFC is putting millions of dollars into its new academy with strong knock-on effects to the local economy.

"The NSW Government also invested through the Regional Job Creation Fund. They gave us $1.1 million, then SFC had to do a counter investment to buy the aircraft and the simulators we need," Mr Pilo said.

The CEO said the company's investment has been between five to six million dollars, and further planned upgrades to the facility and additions to their fleet would be a further investment of around $15 million over the next three years.

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He said the end goal for SFC is to shift operations up from their original campus in Bankstown and expand their eight-plane fleet to about 30 aircraft.

In addition, the company is preparing to launch its own in-house maintenance organisation through its parent company the Schofields Flying Club.

"As the club continues to grow, so will the maintenance business. We're looking forward to being able to do our own component repairs and overhauls in-house," SFC board member Scott Pringle said.

"This is the first time in the history of the Schofields Flying Club, since its establishment in 1969, the first time they've had their own maintenance shop."

The announcement may provide some relief to a region still grappling with QantasLink's decision to cease operations at its aircraft heavy maintenance facility in Tamworth.

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But SFC chief engineer Brad Stewart, who has been tapped to head the company's maintenance division, said the new organisation likely won't be a perfect 1-to-1 fit.

Mr Stewart has lived in Tamworth for 15 years and says he'll hire local if he can, but expects at least "a couple" of engineers to come from outside.

"The airlines hire a different type of engineer, not GA [General Aviation]," he said.

"Don't get me wrong, the standard is still good, but they don't always have the exhibility GA engineers need to troubleshoot on the run."

From a student perspective, the in-house maintenance means planes will be flight-ready sooner, making a reportedly already sky-high experience even better.

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"To wrap it up in one word: it's been unreal," SFC student Priyansh Gupta said of his experience in the school's first cohort.

"It's been really amazing to have all these opportunities to fly. The weather's really good for Tamworth so that's a very big plus, and living here has been really nice as well."

Mr Gupta came over from the Central Coast to study with SFC and just experienced his first country music festival.

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He said when he finishes his last few exams he hopes to transition from learning to teaching.

"Starting off, I wanted to do airlines immediately, but now I want to be an instructor. It's nice to see the new cohort come in and ask me all the questions. Being able to help them has made me motivated to become an instructor," Mr Gupta said.

Luckily for the young soon-to-be pilot, SFC also trains instructors.

The Leader spoke with Simron Hans, a graduate from the college's Bankstown academy who was hand-picked for a three-month intensive scholarship to turn new pilots into flying instructors.

"It was really, really fast, but we had a great support network with all the instructors helping us out," Ms Hans said.

"I've got four little sisters who are watching everything I do … SFC's been very welcoming and has a great culture. They had several other female instructors when I joined, and I'm happy to be part of that crew now and I hope to bring more female pilots on board."

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Looking to the future, SFC Head of Operations Andrew McIntosh says Tamworth is an integral part of the company's goal to become the best aviation education provider in the country.

"The future is in Tamworth for us," Mr McIntosh said.

"Facilities out here are purpose-built for pilot training, so to be able use a facility like this and grow it back to its former glory is exceptional."

He said students in the first cohort have had a 75pc first pass rate, which is higher than that of the company's campus in Bankstown.

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"I think that's due to the fact students are living on-site, living and breathing aviation," Mr McIntosh said.

In addition, he said the company is looking forward to sharing the pilot training facility with Singapore Flying College, an international flight school that's expected to become the facility's second tenant in as many years.

Singapore Flying College has not made an official announcement on setting up shop in Tamworth, and told the Leader it could not comment on "confidential commercial discussions".