Syphax Airlines has partnered with Avsoft International on a long-term contract for online pilot training. The training will help update its pilots’ skills and provide a better customer experience.
Syphax Airlines is a hybrid Tunisian airline owned by multimillionaire Mohamed Frikha.
Avsoft International will provide online pilot training courses for initial and recurrent training and a learning management system (LMS) to Syphax Airline.
Commenting on the partnership, Frikha said the training courses cover his company’s needs and are high quality. He added that the “LMS provides the ideal training environment we require for maintaining pilot training proficiency and regulatory compliance.”
Frikha is opting for Avsoft as it delivers detailed and practical online aviation courses on any browser, device and LMS, online and offline.
The company’s LMS offers courses structured for initial and recurrent training, taking into account pilot recency* due dates with comprehensive reporting facilities. This will enable it to administer all courses and exam results to satisfy regulatory requirements.
In 2015, the airline suspended operations due to piling debt triggered by a drop in Tunisian tourism. The fall came after two terrorist attacks in Tunisia at the Bardo National Museum attack and Sousse beach, which claimed the lives of 60 people, mostly European tourists.
The closure of airspace in Libya and a fierce rivalry with state-owned Tunisair further roped it into severe debt problems, making investors withdraw investments. This was the company’s most prominent financial scandal, as its debts climbed to about €105 million ($124 million), Tour Mag reported.
According to Tour Mag, Syphax had not paid for fuel in several months and probably owed the fuel provider, AGIL, millions of dollars. It also failed to pay a bill of €4.5 million ($5.3 million) to the Office of Civil Aviation and Airports. Frikha was said to have injected €27.34 million ($32 million) from his own pocket into the business.
*Recency is regulations stipulating that a pilot must have successfully carried out three takeoffs and landings — at least one using the cockpit’s autoland facility — within the previous 90 days.
