You have recently been appointed as director of one of the country's most important schools for specialist flight training. What innovations have you introduced or are thinking of introducing in a school where professionals in the sector graduate every year?

It is an honour for me to manage a school with so much tradition and complexity, but at the same time a great effort in terms of commitment and work. This is a historical period when great changes are under way in schools, and in our facility in particular. I am referring to the reforms in technical education, as well as to the combining of the aeronautical branch with the nautical institute, leading to the formation of Italy's largest complex for the training of graduates in various specializations. In this scenario, the aim of each student is to achieve successful training, which means the acquisition of skills that can be used in the world of work. We aim at the improvement of communication in their own language (required for FISO operators); acquisition of technical English by the ICAO 4 courses; the acquisition of mathematical, technological and digital skills. "Learning how to learn", in a life long learning context, means acquiring social and civic skills, opening up to the spirit of initiative and entrepreneurship, by initiatives connected with simulated businesses... All this might seem to be an ambitious programme, but we believe that today's world requires a lot more, and you must have enough preparation.

Today, what do schools need to train excellent students who intend to enter the professions of air traffic controllers and pilots?

Achieving the necessary levels of professional knowledge and skills in air traffic control takes place first of all by looking at the overall preparation of the individual, through the action of teaching-learning conducted by the teachers in our school. There is an educational alliance with bodies such as ENAV, with which we have the honour of collaborating, through internships with alternating phases at the school and in the workplace. Besides learning to educate their own emotional reactions, the young people can apply their theoretical knowledge to real situations, for example in the various stages of aircraft taxiing, take off, approach and landing, side by side with tutors and controlling personnel, in other words acting as pseudo-pilots. Here we experience and develop a higher level that our students need: an increasingly efficient relationship with the world of work, governed with "cum grano salis", in a controlled, safe environment. This involves the organization of summer and winter internships with major companies in the segment (ENAV, KLM, IDS, HRD Aero Sekur, Mistral Air, and others) as well as important projects for school- work alternation, specialised conferences organized in our facility and meetings with former students who are now civilian and military captains and pilots.

Does Italy have a consolidated aeronautical tradition or do we still have to improve something? What role can the school have in the future to strengthen this aspect?

Our school has trained so many specialists in the aviation sector that we occupy a key position in this respect. This is due to the concern by our school for the challenges launched by the sector. These include drones, parting out,  certifications required for increasingly improved safety and operational protocols. This is an exciting challenge where the skills acquired and exploited will have their value. 

Do students need special inclinations and specific aptitudes and skills to attend schools like the De Pinedo, or is it enough to study these subjects with great interest which are certainly not so common?

Having a vocation is always an excellent basis, you don't choose such a difficult path unless there is a potential vocation to bring out. Motivation to learn drives our students to undertake a long path, and live as boarders in order to attend this school to fulfil their expectations, which we cannot disappoint.