News

Brenton Stacey
Public relations officer
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

Avondale College is selling its School of Aviation but the sale will ensure staff members keep their jobs and students complete their study.

The buyer of the school is Illawarra Technology Corporation (ITC), the largest subsidiary and the commercial arm of the University of Wollongong. ITC will employ the school's staff members-Leona Clifford, Joshua Ferry, Garry Fraser, Reg Litster and Anthony Moore-on terms and conditions that are similar to those the five have at Avondale. This includes an agreement not to ask staff members who are Seventh-day Adventists to work on Saturdays. ITC also plans to continue operating the school at Cessnock Airport, which means little if any disruption to the 13 students studying aviation this semester.

"While the sale will mean a sustainable future for the school, it will be a sad day for Avondale," says president Dr Ray Roennfeldt. "The school will no longer be part of Avondale College and the staff won't be college staff. These are our friends and colleagues and the parting is painful for all of us."

The signing of a Heads of Agreement in February and a Share Sale Agreement in May this year provides information about what Avondale and ITC must do to finalise the sale. Avondale has registered a shelf company to hold the school's assets until final settlement. The company has applied to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority for an Air Operators Certificate, which the company will transfer to ITC. Settlement is provisional on the company obtaining the certificate.

Avondale established the school in 1977 to train pilots for employment in the predominately Papua New Guinea-based missions of the Adventist Church in the South Pacific. The school has made a significant contribution to Avondale, the regional community and Adventist mission work since then. It has earned the respect of those within the industry, with peak bodies, government regulators and even other tertiary institutions seeking advice when developing syllabuses. Pass rates in theory examinations are two to three times above national averages. More than 100 former staff members and students work as pilots-the list includes the first female Qantas captain.

The school moved from its original base at Cooranbong when the local airport closed in December 2006. It has operated at Cessnock since this time, although enrolment closed this past year because of concerns over the school's long-term financial sustainability.