The Higher Education Review

Back in 1998, there were very few institutes that provided aviation training to students and groomed them according to the aviation industry demands. Stepping forward to fill the demands of manpower in the aviation industry by imparting quality training to suitable young men and women, Bird Academy was established during that time. The young people started to gain enhanced knowledge and skill that increased their employability chances in the aviation industry. Today, Bird Academy is one of the top-notch aviation training centers in India and they have enhanced their presence across 30 major cities of the country.

Systematic and Pragmatic Training Approach
Numbers talk about the reputation of Bird Academy in the sector of aviation education. For the last two decades, the academy has trained 40,000+ professionals in the field of Aviation, Travel, Tourism, Hospitality, and Retail. It offers a bouquet of courses which include International Air Transport Association (IATA) certified courses such as IATA Foundation, IATA Consultant, IATA GDS Fares and ticketing, IATA Cargo Introductory, IATA Travel Business, IATA and DGCA approved Dangerous Goods Regulations, Initial and recurrent and its own courses such as Diploma in Aviation and Travel Industry, Certificate course in Travel & Tourism, Computerized Reservation System and Automated ticketing, Airfares and Ticketing, Passenger and baggage handling, Airport Ramp and Aircraft Handling, Travel Agency and Tour operations etc. It has made a niche space with the travel, tourism & aviation stakeholders. The courses are carefully crafted by industry veterans with due diligence to industry feedback, requirements, and standards.

"Bird Academy provides internship opportunities to its students through extensive trade links that it has made in the industry for more than two decades"

The traditional teaching mode wherein the classroom teachers make cramming and memorizing compulsory is an obsolete pedagogy at Bird Academy

as it decreases the creativity of the students. Bird Academy's faculty adopts 'learning-centered' pedagogy to amalgamate student's innate skills. "We create this experience through lectures, seminars,case discussions, group presentations & discussions, industry visits, syndicate discussions and special lectures by professionals from industry," says Mrs. Radha Bhatia, Chairperson, Bird Group. She says, "My faculty is my family and we have built the team from the finest individuals in aviation, travel & tourism industry. They ensure every alumnus of ours realize the dream that they entrust upon Bird Academy while joining us. Our faculty is also encouraged to participate in industry seminars, workshops and trade events to stay abreast with important policy developments, technological advancements and industry requirements."

The traditional teaching mode wherein the classroom teachers make cramming and memorizing compulsory is an obsolete pedagogy at Bird Academy as it decreases the creativity of the students. Bird Academy's faculty adopts 'learning-centered' pedagogy to amalgamate student's innate skills. "We create this experience through lectures, seminars, case discussions, group presentations & discussions, industry visits, syndicate discussions and special lectures by professionals from industry," says Mrs. Radha Bhatia, Chairperson, Bird Group. She says, "My faculty is my family and we have built the team from the finest individuals in aviation, travel & tourism industry. They ensure every alumnus of ours realize the dream that they entrust upon Bird Academy while joining us. Our faculty is also encouraged to participate in industry seminars, workshops, and trade events to stay abreast with important policy developments, technological advancements and industry requirements."

Tourism and hospitality are social phenomena and the industries associated with them are largely application-oriented, where IT serves as a tool for both enabling and inducing change. As e-tourism in the future will be focused on consumer-centric technologies, the teaching and instructional methods used at the academy encourage self-learning and learning through active student-industry interaction in the form of practical assignments and projects. The students learn in an environment which is empirical, entertaining and highly invigorating; conducive for professional learning.

Industrial Recognition and Placement Opportunities
Quality is innate to Bird Academy's training approach and it speaks for

itself. At home, the academy has been awarded as the 'Best Agency for Providing Aviation Skills & Training' during 'WINGS India 2018' organized by Ministry of Civil Aviation at Hyderabad. "We have been adjudged as IATA's top performing ATS in entire South Asia consecutively for the last four years (2016-19) and IATA Top performing ATC consecutively for last nine years," says Mrs. Bhatia. The academy has been able to forge a very special bond with global aviation major ­ IATA. Besides 5 Authorized Training Centres (ATC), 1 Accredited Training School (ATS), recently the academy has been awarded a very special status of being the only Regional Training Partner by IATA.
Bird Academy is the knowledge partner for Rajiv Gandhi Aviation University, Jamia Millia Islamia University, Delhi; Aligarh Muslim University, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun; Hochschule Worms University of Applied Sciences (American Cooperation Program), Amadeus; Bird Worldwide Flight Services, National Skill Development Corporation among others.

Believing in an industrial internship as the building block to any youngster's career as it carves a true professional out of them; Bird Academy provides internship opportunities to its students through extensive trade links that it has made in the industry for more than two decades. Further, 100% placement support is extended to all studentsBird Group's sister concerns also help in the process. It has provided placement to its students who are occupying senior level positions in the aviation industry within India and abroad. "The list of our successful alumni would run long. Some of them have started their own agencies such as DBB World Wide Pvt Ltd. and some are occupying important positions at Inter Globe Technologies, Fare Portal, Expedia to name a few," says Mrs. Bhatia.

"We aspire to be the torch-bearers of aviation, travel & tourism skilling in India and to this effect we have already begun collaborating with government's'Skill India' mission and have set up country's first Aviation Multi Skill Development Centre in Chandigarh under the supervision of Ministry of Civil Aviation," explains Mrs. Bhatia. The Academy will continue to upgrade and significantly increase its efforts in training entry-level personnel through E-learning Mode and contact classes to create a vast pool of highly talented and efficient professionals.