Garuda's Desperate Need for More Pilots

(7/10/2010)

Bisnis.com reports that the national airline Garuda needs more than 600 pilots to meet its current shortfall in cockpit staff.

The corporate secretary for Garuda's Pilot Association (APG), Josias Pontonuwu, said the need for more pilots is tied to the airlines new aircraft and new routes.

Pontonuwu explained that the crop of new pilots graduating from Indonesian flight academies is insufficient to meet current staffing requirements. "We (Garuda) still need more or less 600 pilots. Other airlines certainly need hundreds of pilots."

To underline his point, Pontonuwu mentioned the various advertisements being placed in the Indonesian press seeking new pilots over the past few months. He maintains that this development has caused many pilots to change places of employment.

"In the end, the airline that pays the highest wages is the one who gets to employ the pilot," Pontonuwu concluded.