The Government with schemes like UDAN is pushing aggressively towards affordable air travel to Indians, beyond the metropolitan city lights. This has not just brought the scope for highly skilled Air Hostesses but also the service standards. The government’s focus on low-cost carriers (LCCs), increased foreign direct investment (FDI) in domestic airlines, and a constant focus on regional connectivity are opening gates for the aviation industry like never before. The growth for the industry in the Asia-Pacific region has increased manifolds, opening opportunities across the seas.
However, while a large number of airports are planned in India, the industry stakeholders need to collaborate with the government to ensure that a holistic plan is in place for construction of sustainable, world-class and modern ground infrastructure, to meet the demand coming from the exponential growth in the sector.
Experts believe that the aviation sector shall be the growth engine of India’s development as the industry is in an era of rapid expansion. The Civil aviation Ministry anticipates that in the next two decades, air passenger traffic in India will grow to 1.12 billion per year from the current 187 million. This will open opportunities for investment in infrastructure development, up-gradation, and skilled manpower. It will also create numerous opportunities for employment and income generation for Indians. Vision 2040 released by Ministry of Civil Aviation this month indicates 200 operational airports by 2040 with 2 airports in each top 31 cities. Moreover, India is projected to be the third-largest aviation market by 2026 (after the US and China), as per the report published by IATA.
To understand the scope and opportunities in this sector Stoodnt.com got in touch with Kulwinder Singh Kohli, Founder and Non-Executive Chairman of Frankfinn Group, known for quality training and best-trained workforce as Air Hostesses, Crew members, ground staff and front office executives in Aviation, Hospitality, Travel & Customer Services Sectors.
Kulwinder Singh Kohli started with just an investment of Rs 40,000. It was Kohli’s sweat and toil that has brought this growth story to the worth of Rs 1500 Crores and a million aspirations come true. At the age of 31, Kohli, a lawyer by profession became an entrepreneur.
His efforts helped him emerge as the undisputed leader in the training industry. Under his guidance, the group has become a name to be trusted. It is this trust that his brainchild, Frankfinn, is also approved training partner of the National Skill Development Corporation India (NSDC).
A selected excerpt of the interview –
Q) Do you see more private players coming in?
Yes definitely. Seeing the huge expansion in Indian aviation market more private players are going to make entry into Indian aviation sector. Present players are going to add more aircrafts to cater to the huge demand.
To participate in this boom, many new airlines have recently started and increased their operations in India including AirItaly, DrukAir, IcelandAir, Air Tanzania, Ethiopian Airlines etc.
Q) What are the career prospects in the aviation industry?
Aviation Industry provides attractive salaries apart from Glamorous lifestyle. Frankfinn students join as Cabin Crew, Ground Staff, Reservation, Ticketing Agents, Customer Care Executive(s), Guest Relation Executive(s) etc., and at many more roles in the Aviation Industry.
Also, the domestic aviation sector is projected to employ nearly four million people in two decades as per a study instituted by the Civil Aviation Ministry.
Q) What are the new job roles, training available in the industry?
The Aviation industry offers jobs pertaining to both the service and the technical nature. As per a report from a study by the Civil Aviation Ministry the more and more job roles will be in the on-flight as well as on ground segments.
This means many new vacancies for the Cabin crew/ Flight Steward, Airport Ground staff, Customer Care Executive(s), Guest Relation Executive (s), etc., will be created. Besides that the aligned segments of Hospitality, Travel and Tourism and Customer care will see a growth.
According to a report from the Civil aviation ministry, the new employment opportunities would not only call for enhanced functional and segment- specific competencies across levels but also demand several soft skills and domain-specific knowledge.
Q) What are the eligibility criteria for joining the industry?
18 years of age apart from other physical requirements in terms of height, weight and eyesight for jobs as Cabin Crew. For Ground Jobs, Graduation is a must. A good communication skill is also a pre- requisite to join this industry.
Q) How many placements does Frankfinn achieve every year?
We do around 70% placements in first six months of students’ successful completion of their course.
Frankfinn has a dedicated Placement Assistance Cell which helps each Frankfinn student get genuine placement by organizing on-campus placement drives, after successful course completion.
As a proof of the excellent placements done by Frankfinn, the institution has been repeatedly featured in the Limca Book of Records for the highest cabin crew placements, year after year, along with other achievements.
Q) What makes Frankfinn the best in air hostess training?
Today Frankfinn is known as theWorld’s #1 Air Hostess Training Institute as it provides excellent training and placements to its students. All Frankfinn centres are equipped with excellent world class Infrastructure with State of the art AC classrooms, classrooms that are Mock aircrafts to give the students a feel of the Aviation industry and Projectors and AV equipment to enhance the effectiveness of training delivery.
Frankfinn Course includes training on latest computerized reservation systems – Galileo/ Amadeus/ Sabre. This increases the employability of the students. Throughout the course, there is a Focus on grooming and communication skills and this helps in enhancing the students’ personality, to make the students industry ready.
Also, as required by most international Airlines- Swimming is made an integral part of the course apart from other soft skills like personality development, Hospitality, Interview skills, Customer Relationship etc.
Frankfinn is an approved Training partner of NSDC – National Skill Development Corporation. NSDC is a one of its kind, public private partnership in India which aims to promote skill development. Additionally, Frankfinn is the only Institute in India with an exclusive worldwide tie-up with ICM in its line of business – an institute of repute in the UK and having an international presence. ICM has accredited all of the Frankfinn courses and also awards its own certificate at level 5, 6 & 7 as per education system in the UK, on the completion of Frankfinn course.
Moreover, Frankfinn is the only Institute operating PAN India in this field, with the largest network of training centers and also has its training centre in Dubai .
Q) What innovations have been brought into the courses?
Frankfinn hires the Best Talent from the Industry to ensure high standards in training delivery. Also, the institute has got the approval from NSDC for keeping the standard of Quality always High. Training rooms that are Mock aircrafts , AC classrooms with Projectors and AV equipment in each classroom are a proof of Frankfinn’s Innovation and commitment to Quality in training. Additionally, the Course material is updated regularly to ensure students get trained on the latest material. A diligent online monitoring of progress for each student is done to check the quality of training delivery.
Q) How critical in innovation in entrepreneurship?
Innovation is always the forte of Frankfinn. As a leader in Aviation Training Frankfinn we keep innovating to meet the demands of Aviation sector. When we first commenced the education business, we defined Seven Brand values in the perspective – Value for Money, Quality, Fun, Innovation, Challenges, Royal and Rebellious. Innovation has been the key driving force in all our business endeavours.
As an initial innovative achievement we launched a seven days training program for preparing students to successfully face airline Cabin Crew interviews. We engaged seasoned and highly qualified and experienced faculty. Their cost to the company was much higher than the faculty members hired by other Air Hostess training institutes. However, we were fully aware that if we had to make a mark in the industry, we had to raise the benchmark in training and post-training services to a much higher level.
However, our innovation did not stop here.
To increase the employment opportunities for Frankfinn students, we included ‘Swimming’, a skill required by many leading airlines. We also included curriculum in Hospitality, Travel and Customer Care to make the students more employable in the growing industry.
Moreover, Frankfinn is the only institute in India with an exclusive worldwide tie-up with ICM, an institute of repute in the UK, having tie-ups with various reputed Universities, Colleges and Institutes across the Globe. Frankfinn has also tied up with Air India for detailed Cabin Service familiarisation program, for its students. At the end of this training, Frankfinn students receive a co-branded certificate from Air India. Frankfinn is also an approved Training Partner of NSDC (National Skill Development Corporation).
Q) The group is now synonym to the quality training and best-trained workforce as Air Hostesses, Crew members, ground staff and front office executives in Aviation, Hospitality, Travel & Customer Services Sectors. – How did you make it happen?
By recruiting and retaining best and experienced team, Experienced and best Trainers from aviation, hospitality and travel industry. Also, Frankfinn has created a course curriculum in sync with the latest requirements for this Industry.
Q) Future plans of Frankfinn Institute?
The company is planning to launch 200 centers in India and 75 centers at international venues, in the next three years.
The global luxury travel industry has witnessed exponential growth and it is the calculative faith on this growth that we see a sea of opportunities to dive into. In the next five years to come, we plan to reach the top ten in the global list of aviation and entertainment industry. To achieve this, major expansions and diversification are intended to be made effective. The group is also in the progression to launch their own regional airline Air Frankfinn, a leap among the list of achievements of the group.
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