SAA is not cutting corners

SAA’s plans to reduce the
required amount of flying hours
for its second officers will not
compromise safety as some media
reports have claimed, say aviation
experts.
The airline has been accused of
putting its passengers at risk by
reducing the required flying hours for its
in-flight relief, or second officers, from
1 500 hours to 250 as part of its
Gaining Altitude programme. But
SAA hit back saying that suggestions
made about the introduction of
the programme being a lowering
of standards were “reckless and
spurious”.
SAA acting chief pilot, Sandy Bayne,
said: “We have taken a decision to
investigate the possibility of putting
together a programme that will
assist entrants to the airline’s Cadet
Pilot Training Programme who have
successfully completed the initial
training. This will enable them to
receive more training in-house and
acquire much-needed experience in
their journey towards becoming fully
fledged airline pilots.”
Sandy said there had been no
changes to the minimum requirements
for first officers and that the 250 hours
for second officers was in line with
international best practice, followed by
many airlines across the globe.
Marius Santos, president of the Air
Line Pilots’ Association of SA, said
once candidates had successfully
completed their initial cadet training
they would often leave to join smaller
operators as second officers to gain
the required hours before applying to a
bigger airline such as SAA or Comair.
“What SAA is trying to do is, instead
of having the cadet pilots leave to join
smaller airlines, getting them to stay
with the airline. Cathay Pacific, Emirates
and Etihad also do this.
“This airline-specific training would
actually make the skies safer for
passengers and not the opposite. It is
a method of transformation but not at
the expense of safety. By the time they
become first officers the pilots will be
the most thoroughly trained,” he added.
Aviation expert and md of Plane
Talking, Linden Birns, said: “What we
are seeing is the emergence of a new
philosophy around the role of a modern
airline pilot and ensuring that their
training properly reflects the significant
technological and operational advances
that we’ve witnessed over the past
two decades and equips them with
the appropriate skills set that modern
airline pilots require.