British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA) General Secretary Amy Leversidge has written a letter to Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, requesting her to ensure that plans for London Heathrow Airport’s third runway are ‘future-proofed’.
In the letter; the General Secretary urges Alexander to ensure that the winning bid provides ‘sufficient additional capacity and flexibility’ to protect the airport against any future potential expansion.
Currently, there are two bids to built the airport’s third runway, with the government expected to choose between them by the end of this month.
Leversidge’s letter highlights the fact that increased capacity at Heathrow will also lead to more flights, which will require the training of new pilots at around 100,000 GBP per prospective applicant.
As a result; the Secretary has requested government investment in order to ensure training is kept up to date with the potential rate of travel and asked that whichever bid is chosen, the airport is kept able to run smoothly during construction.
BALPA General Secretary Amy Leversidge wrote:The expansion at Heathrow is a once in a lifetime opportunity to futureproof an airport that is a world-leading hub, linking the United Kingdom to the world.”
I would also encourage you to assure yourself that the winning bid as far as possible provides sufficient additional capacity and flexibility to delay or even prevent any need in the decades ahead to expand the airport again.
Apart from those who are accepted onto a small number of funded cadet programmes, those wanting to train to become a commercial airline pilot must fund their own training, both in full and upfront. That bill is typically over £100,000…. One way to fix this and to ensure that the opportunity to train as a pilot is real and meaningful to anyone with the ambition and potential is the rejuvenation of the pilot apprenticeship.
The BALPA supports the expansion of London Heathrow, as well as the government’s overarching agenda of airport expansion.
