Too Many Jobless Local Pilots, Govt Moves to Curb Number of Foreign Ones
Jakarta. The Indonesian government is considering curbing the number of foreign pilots in local airlines in a bid to provide more job opportunities for local pilots, a minister said on Sunday (04/12).
Transport Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said currently at least 900 local pilots have been left jobless due to fierce competition and for lacking the certification to fly specific airplanes, especially wide-body aircraft.
"Our pilots are getting fewer and fewer opportunities," Transport Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said as quoted by Antaranews.com.
Since 2013, airlines that operate aircraft with capacities of more than 30 seats and fewer than 30 seats — a.k.a. holders of the Air Operator Certificate 121 and 135 — are not allowed to employ foreign pilots with flight hours fewer than 250 hours.
There were around 600 foreign pilots being employed by local airlines at the time the restriction was put in place.
The transport minister did not provide any more detail on the upcoming plan to further restrict the number of foreign pilots in Indonesia.
He did say the plan will include providing better training programs for pilots to match the needs of each airline.
Indonesia has 23 flying schools with around 65 new pilots graduating every year, according to the head of the human resource development center at the ministry, Yuli Sudoso Hastono, as quoted by Liputan6.com.
New pilots, however, have only undergone basic flying training due to the high cost of more advanced training and the limited time they had at the schools.
And once in the job market, they have to compete with better skilled, older local and foreign pilots.
There were 7,150 pilots — with or without jobs — in Indonesia last year when there were only 770 jobs available.
Airlines prefer pilots with a good skill set to fly their aircraft. This way, the airlines will not need to spend extra money on additional training for new pilots, which will take about six months, a long time in the airline industry.
"I believe [the main reason] why there are so many jobless pilots is because they couldn't pass their test," Budi said.
Aviation expert Arista Atmadjati from Gadjah Mada University said the real cause might be more complicated.
"For reasons of efficiency, airlines employ co-pilots from the Balkans who are willing to be paid lower than local pilots just to increase their flight hours," Arista said.
"On the other hand, Indonesian pilots often refuse to join small airlines that serve remote areas in the country," he said.
Arista lauded the government's plan to improve training standard and curb the number of foreign pilots.
He said the government still issues the pilot license. It would be a simple matter for the transport ministry to stop issuing new licenses to foreign pilots if the government seriously wants to reduce their number.
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