Varadkar rules out compensation for trainee pilots

The Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar says neither the Government not the Irish Aviation Authority will be able to compensate the 80 student pilots who were left stranded in Florida earlier this month after their training was suspended.

The students from the Pilot Training College in Waterford had paid up to €80,000 for their course at the Florida Institute of Technology Aviation.

The trainees met with Minister Varadkar and with the CEO of the Irish Aviation Authority today, to try and recoup some of their fees.

The IAA said that it will engage with the examiner appointed to the Pilot Training College in Waterford in an attempt to find out why the company ran into financial difficulty, and what happened to the fees handed over by the trainees.

Minister Varadkar said that he is considering the introduction of a bonding scheme for pilot training courses in the future.