Poaching to intensify as aviation markets grow
Brussels: The pilot shortage is relatively recent. It is the result of extraordinary growth in air traffic in the Persian Gulf, China and India; the rise of lucrative low-cost carriers in Europe and Asia; and the sustained recovery of the US airlines from the industry recession caused by the 9/11 attacks.
Evidence of the exodus of pilots and mechanics from established airlines and national flag carriers abounds. And poaching is expected to intensify as markets like China and India grow.
Around Asia, flyers from national airlines deserted for better paying jobs with new and successful budget carriers, such as Malaysia’s AirAsia, leaving companies no choice but to employ new flying graduates.
In Europe, Belgium’s largest carrier, Brussels Airlines, recently complained of losing an average of ten captains a month to pilot-hungry airlines in the Gulf, and have requested government intervention.
India and China alone will need about 4,000 new pilots a year to cope with their growth.
On average, airlines need 30 highly trained pilots available for each long-haul aircraft in their inventory. For short-haul planes they need less, between ten and 18.
In an effort to retain experienced pilots, aviation authorities in some nations are considering extending the mandatory retirement age from 60 to 65 years.
Other airlines plan to moderate their standards, allowing new graduates to co-pilot with experienced captains. But this has placed greater stress on the command pilot, who must fly multi-leg segments while monitoring a co-pilot’s performance, rather than sharing the flying load with the first officer.
Paradoxically, the worldwide pilot shortages are also making it harder to train new pilots properly. Flight schools now complain they are understaffed as instructors get hired by regional carriers who have lost pilots to expanding airlines.
The critical shortfall has led the Montreal-based International Civil Aviation Organisation to introduce a shortcut training scheme – the multi-crew pilot licence – enabling airlines to drastically reduce both cost and training time. In this programme, a trainee, supervised by a pilot and co-pilot, will fly a wide-bodied jet within 45 weeks, about what it takes to obtain a driving licence in most European countries.
17/07/07 Slobodan Lekic/Scotsman, United Kingdom