Two Okanagan College students are getting a remarkable opportunity to jump start their careers as commercial pilots with major Canadian airline Jazz Aviation LP (Jazz).
Each year two students in the College’s Commercial Aviation program are recognized by Jazz for their educational achievements, safety and professionalism. The airline awards each winning student with a $3,000 scholarship and enrolment in the Jazz Aviation Pathways Program (Jazz APP) which guarantees the student an interview with the company upon graduation.
“Being part of Jazz APP is something I’ve been working toward since I started this program,” says Paawan Miglani, OC commercial aviation student. “I’m graduating soon and knowing I have an interview with such a renowned airline is huge. Also, the scholarship money is a big help because it’s going straight into my training with simulator sessions, flights and ground school.”
Miglani was presented with the Safety, Professionalism and Diversity award and his classmate Aimee Wintle received the Safety and Professionalism award. Both Miglani and Wintle excelled on their Transport Canada written exams and industry flight tests and have a high grade point average.
“It was a huge honour to win this award, it makes me feel like all of my hard work has paid off,” says Wintle. “The scholarship portion helps pay for tuition costs and whether I’m successful or not, the interview is one of the biggest benefits of this award.”
Jazz has been collaborating with accredited colleges nationwide for a decade and takes a deep responsibility to mentor future generations of aviators and is dedicated to hiring Canada’s best and brightest youth.
“Jazz is committed to creating a strong future for the pilot profession in Canada and we’re proud to support the education of top aviation students like Aimee and Paawan,” said Peter Batten, Senior Chief Pilot, Line Operations for Jazz. “Safety and professionalism are paramount to success as a commercial pilot and it’s wonderful to see such deserving recipients from the College.”
Okanagan College is one of the first aviation schools in Western Canada to team up with the Jazz APP. Since the program launched at the College in early 2016, many graduating students have gone on to accept pilot positions at Jazz.
Last year OC student Chris McCann won the Jazz APP scholarship and upon graduation, successfully interviewed with the airline.
“Jazz flew me to Vancouver for an interview shortly after I graduated and then flew me to Toronto for a second interview,” says McCann. “I found out pretty quickly I was hired as a commercial pilot and I’ve already started training.”
McCann is currently in Toronto and just began a two-week training program. Upon completion, he will be sent to another city to complete an additional six weeks of training before being assigned a home base.
