Cygnet Aviation Academy

Cygnet Aviation Academy is a purpose-built airline cadet academy at Kingston's Norman Rogers Airport in Ontario, launched in 2022 and owned by Chorus Aviation. Created specifically to supply Canadian carriers with airline-ready first officers, it trains under Transport Canada's regulatory framework and works in close partnership with CAE and Chorus-owned Jazz Aviation.

Training at Cygnet Aviation Academy

The academy runs three streams for candidates with no previous flying experience: Jazz Approach, delivered with CAE and Jazz Aviation; Destination Porter, a cadet programme with Porter Airlines and CAE whose first cohort began in January 2026 and which takes cadets through roughly eighteen months at Kingston before De Havilland Dash 8-400 type training at CAE's Toronto training centre; and a Free Agent stream offering flexible integrated ATPL training for cadets not yet attached to an airline. Destination Porter is built as a defined route onto Porter's flight deck, with the programme's inaugural graduates expected in 2027.

Entry is selective and airline-shaped from the outset, with candidates assessed against carrier-defined criteria before training begins and CAE involved in recruitment and screening for the cadet streams. Since a place effectively carries a future airline job with it, performing well in the initial aptitude and psychometric assessments matters enormously — and dedicated practice beforehand can be the difference between an offer and a near miss.