Gloucestershire's Skyborne academy welcomes British Airways’ Speedbird trainees

Published by

Giles Gwinnett

The first Speedbird trainees pictured at Skyborne with Guy Bowen, project pilot, pilot recruitment at British Airways. Credit: Skyborne

Skyborne, the Gloucestershire-based airline training academy, has welcomed the first trainees as they journey towards being pilots with British Airways.

The Speedbird pilot class of 2024 come from diverse backgrounds, range from 18 to mid-40s, and will join Skyborne between March and October this year.

The academy was announced as the official UK partner for the Speedbird Pilot Academy in September last year.

There were over 20,000 applicants in the first year, who entered a highly competitive process.

"This is a life-changing initiative," said Lee Woodward, CEO of Skyborne.

"By removing training costs British Airways’ Speedbird Pilot Academy levels the playing field for the best and brightest, driving change in our industry.

"The standard of applicants has been incredible and to see the first trainees here at Skyborne marks a proud moment for our team.

"We thank British Airways for their trust and confidence in us as a leading and innovative flight school."
One Speedbird trainee is Oliver Shrive.

His father Paul said: "All Oliver has wanted to do is fly, it’s been his dream since he was seven years old.

"So as parents, to see that dream become a reality makes us incredibly proud. And for Skyborne and British Airways to be able to offer the opportunity and the accessibility to become a pilot is second to none. We’ll be forever grateful."

The Speedbird Pilot Academy (SPA) with Skyborne is just one route to a career with British Airways.
Skyborne is the only flight school to serve as official UK partner for both SPA and the Speedbird Self-Sponsored Pathway (SSP), offering Integrated ATPL applicants the opportunity to receive a conditional job offer from the airline before starting their flight training.

For more information, click HERE.

Skyborne Airline Academy is a modern airline training academy based at Vero Beach, Florida, USA and Gloucestershire Airport in the UK.

Giles Gwinnett

Giles Gwinnett is a writer at The Business Magazine. He has been a journalist for more than 20 years and covered a vast array of topics at a range of media settings - in print and online. After his NCTJ newspaper training, he became a reporter in Hampshire before moving to a news agency in Gloucestershire. In recent years, he has been covering the financial markets along with company news for an investor-focused web portal. His many interests include politics, energy and the environment. He lives in Dorset.