A letter from the Principal: our year in numbers, and what comes next

As another year at Lumen Pilot Academy draws to a close, I want to share where we stand and where we are heading.

This year more than 1,100 students trained with us across 14 courses at seven sites, from Tasman Field in Oceania to Enceladus Station at Saturn. Our first-time pass rate across all check rides was 87 per cent, the highest in the academy's history, and our careers team placed 94 per cent of graduates in flying jobs within six months.

Some highlights. First Solo achieved a 91 per cent pass rate across four intakes. The Heavy Freight Type Rating remains our most popular advanced course, with three Atlas cohorts. Gas Giant Skimming, still the only civilian atmospheric skimming course in the solar system, ran two full cohorts at Ganymede for the first time. And our hiring partners funded 61 per cent of all advanced places through sponsored seats.

We also made changes. We added simulator hours to First Solo and moved real flying later, which reduced the flight hours students needed to reach solo standard. We rebuilt the Courier & Interceptor ground school around fatigue management. And we expanded the Flight Instructor Certificate, because the shortage of instructors is now the biggest limit on how many pilots we can train.

Looking ahead, the January and February intakes include the first Outer-System Ice Runner cohort open to self-funded students, and Passenger Liner Command will add a second intake each year from March 2188. We are also in early discussions about a training programme for the Polaris Relay Tender, which we do not yet teach.

Lumen has been accredited by Halcyon Stellar Works since 2170, and we remain fully independent. We publish every pass rate and every tuition fee because we believe students deserve to know exactly what they are signing up for.

Thank you to every student, instructor, examiner and partner who made this year possible. I look forward to seeing many of you at our graduation ceremonies on Luna and at Tasman Field.