The leading carrier and one of the top universities in the country have partnered for the mentorship of future aviation engineers.
Last September 5, the biggest Filipino carrier by fleet size, Cebu Pacific (CEB) announced that it has reached a partnetship with the De La Salle University (DLSU) – Manila.
Through the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), the five-year collaboration will see aspiring aviation engineers mentored through its Design Engineering Program.
The airline explained, “This will give select DLSU engineering students the opportunity to work closely with CEB’s technical experts in designing and developing projects for real airline operations.”
Twenty-five DLSU engineering students have been chosen for the program’s pilot run this year, with areas of training include smart systems for aircraft maintenance and sustainable mobility solutions for the carrier’s facilities.
The outputs of these projects will also serve as their thesis or capstone requirements.
Shevantha Weerasekera, CEB Vice President for Engineering and Fleet Management, noted: “This partnership invests in more than projects—it invests in people. By guiding young engineers to innovate with purpose, we are building the future of Philippine aviation together.”
This MOA marks CEB’s first formal partnership with a university to embed practical airline industry experience into higher education.
The airline also said that it plans to expand the program to more schools in the coming years as part of its long-term investment in Philippine aviation.
Lastly, the initiative also reflects its broader push to develop homegrown talent, which also include the OFW Balikbayan Program that encourages engineers working overseas to return and share their expertise with the local sector. It was launched back in May.