Saviour sought for long-running South Australian flying school

Administrators are looking for a white knight to revive one of Adelaide’s longest-running aviation training schools, which collapsed recently.

Hartwig Air director David Johnston with a plane at their hangar at Parafield Airport.

Administrators are looking for a white knight to revive one of Adelaide’s longest-running aviation training schools.

Hartwig Air, previously known as Bruce Hartwig Flying School, has trained more than 3000 commercial and private pilots over its 55-years of operation at Parafield Airport, with many of its graduates flying for major carriers including Qantas, British Airways and American Airlines.

It has also provided shark patrol services to the South Australian government since 2020, and runs the state’s only flight attendant training program.

However, the company’s directors - David Johnston and David Blake - called in administrators on Monday, blaming Covid-19 for a decline in the company’s finances, which it had been unable to recover from.

Mr Johnston said the business had suspended trading while administrators from Heard Phillips Lieberenz considered options to recapitalise the business, which could include selling the business to another flight school or group of investors.

“The directors felt the need to place the business into voluntary administration as it never fully recovered from the Covid period,” he said.

“Aviation schools must have a considerable working capital pool to draw upon, and the Covid shutdown caused that capital pool to shrink to unsustainable levels.”

Mr Johnston said nine employees had been stood down for the suspension period, while 60 current students were being transitioned to another training provider based at Parafield Airport - Aerostar Aviation.

“As aviation training is tightly regulated, students will in most circumstances receive full credit for their prior learning,” Mr Johnston said.

Hartwig Air is one of three accredited aviation training schools in South Australia.

Its collapse would leave the state with just two providers - locally owned Aerostar Aviation and Flight Training Adelaide, owned by Hong Kong-based Young Brothers Aviation.

Administrator Mark Lieberenz from Heard Phillips Lieberenz has been contacted for details about the company’s debts and major creditors.

Hartwig Air has changed hands twice since Bruce Hartwig established the aviation training school in Adelaide in 1969.

Mr Johnston and Mr Blake - a former airline pilot and previously chief executive of four airlines in Australia and Europe - acquired the business in 2014.

The company’s fall into administration comes amid a shortage of pilots, both in Australia and overseas, with major airlines aggressively competing for pilots and other skilled workers as they look to increase their services to cater to the surge in post-pandemic demand for domestic and international travel.

Originally published as Saviour sought for long-running South Australian flying school