Piilot shortage of hit South Africa

THERE’S a new airline
on the block capturing
the business of the
Portuguese community in
South Africa, with cheap fares
and better connections than
other carriers flying to Portugal,
travel experts say.
 Angolan carrier, TAAG, is
not an obvious choice when
flying to Lisbon, says Ricky
Da Silva, director of XL Novo
Mundo Travel. “But now, TAAG
has specials and hip Emirates
aircraft onA LOOMING global and
local pilot shortage could
see local airlines being
forced to scrap routes and
frequencies in the long term,
aviation experts say.
According to Captain
Jimmy Conroy, chairman of
the SAA Pilots Association,
approximately 60 pilots from
several SA carriers have left
mostly for the Middle East
over the past year. “Under
normal circumstances we’d
expect to lose maybe 20 pilots
a year,” he says.
Jimmy says airline markets in
the Middle East and Asia are
opening their doors to pilots.
These regions have reduced
regulations and are offering
more attractive salaries.
But, it is not only Middle
Eastern airlines that are
drawing pilots from SA. There
is a new threat from the East.
Previously, China did not
recognise South African pilot
licences, but in the last six
months, this has changed.
“China has a requirement
for 100 pilots per week for
the next 20 years to satisfy
the current and suggested
demand,” says Rodger Foster
ceo and md of SA Airlink.
In the near future, recruiters
for Chinese airlines will be
in SA to source pilots and
they are specifically looking
for those who can fly Airbus
aircraft, says Jimmy. “There’s
only one airline in South Africa
that operates Airbus [aircraft]
and that’s SAA.”
SAA’s spokesperson, Tlali
Tlali, says the airline’s pilot
turnover currently sits at 2%.
“This does not necessarily
present a concern that we may
lose pilots in droves.”
“We are extremely concerned
and we think the rest of the
industry also needs to be
concerned,” says Rodger.
He says route cuts and
frequency reductions due to
a lack of pilots is definitely
a concern in the long term.
“I know some airlines are
starting to struggle to find
suitably qualified pilots,”
says Jimmy.
ALPA-SA president, William
Rooken-Smith says the world’s
air forces used to be the
suppliers of pilots, but this
has changed over the years.
According to Rodger, the
South African Air Force does
not do as much training and
recruitment as they used to.
Jimmy says SAA used to
run a highly successful
Cadet Training Programme,
but this was closed due
to the high cost of training
new pilots. But Tlali said,
that the airline is engaging
with stakeholders to get the
programme up and running
again.