Graduate pilots hit hard by job shortage

Tuesday January 18, 2011

EXCLUSIVE
By RACHAEL KAM, FLORENCE A. SAMY and TEH ENG HOCK

ABOUT 500 pilots earned their wings and aimed for the sky – only to see their dreams come crashing. The reality is that there are few openings and the job shortage has hit them hard.

Most of these pilots, who graduated from the eight flying schools in the country, have been without a job for between one and two years.

Other developments:

> While the schools produced between 300 and 400 pilots annually in the last five years, their total intake for a year can reach up to 800.

> The biggest airline operator – Malaysia Airlines — only takes in about 100 pilots or so and its priority is its own trainee pilots.

> The problem of surplus pilots will be further compounded when more join the group this year.

> Don’t be idle, take courses to keep flying skills intact, Department of Civil Aviation flight operations director Capt Datuk Yahaya Abdul Rahman tells fresh pilots.

Source from THE STAR ONLINE

Flying dreams a pie in the sky

PETALING JAYA: Up to 500 licensed junior pilots in Malaysia have not been able to take to the skies in the last two years. There are just not enough jobs for them.

The number of flying schools have quadrupled from two about three years ago to eight now, resulting in an oversupply of fresh pilots vying for the limited number of positions as airline trainee pilots.

While the schools produced between 300 and 400 pilots annually in the last five years, their total intake for a year can reach up to 800, given that the course takes between 18 months and two years.

They would graduate with 200 hours under their belt, enabling them to only fly small aircrafts below 5,700kg.

But this does not qualify them to fly for an airline, which would require at least 1,500 flight hours and further intensive type training and stringent tests. Only then would they qualify for an Airline Transport Pilot Licence (ATPL).

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Last year, the country’s two major airlines – Malaysia Airlines Bhd and AirAsia – each hired only an average of 100 graduates each for their airline pilot training programme.

The Department of Civil Aviation’s (DCA) flight operations director Capt Datuk Yahaya Abdul Rahman said that about 70% of the 400 fresh graduate pilots would be employed by local airlines.

Capt Yahaya said that previously, most students were sponsored by airlines which would then recruit them upon graduation.

“These days, half of them are private students whose parents have paid for their course.”

He agreed that presently, the number of pilots graduating from flying schools was growing faster than the recruitments.

“From 2005 to 2009, a total of 1,513 locals and 110 foreigners graduated from the flying schools. The number has been increasing every year,” he said.

Back in the 1990s, Malaysia had only one flying school in Malacca, which produced 70 pilots annually.

Capt Yahaya, however, dispelled speculation that the oversupply was due to local airlines preferring to hire foreign pilots.

“Local airlines need to keep a small number of foreign captains with at least 15 to 20 years’ or 5,000 flying hours’ experience.

“Fresh pilots are usually taken in as co-pilots. They will later be upgraded to senior co-pilots and then captains when they have achieved the necessary flying hours.”

Given the rapid growth of the airline industry and continuous expansion of major local industry players, he believed that demand for pilots was on the rise.

He encouraged fresh pilots who are jobless to join DCA’s three-month instructor’s programme to keep their flying skills intact.

Source from THE STAR ONLINE

Ensure pilots meet the standards, says MAS

PETALING JAYA: There must be controls and proper tests in place to ensure those taking pilot courses meet the stringent standards required by airlines, said Malaysia Airlines operations director Capt Azharuddin Osman.

“The aviation industry in Malaysia is small with only two major airlines. If not properly controlled we will have an over supply of ‘under-qualified’ pilots,” he said, adding that MAS currently had 1,400 pilots.

On average, MAS recruited 100 cadets into its full scholarship cadet programme every year. For every 16 that apply, only one gets in.

Capt Azharuddin said pilots had to clock in at least 4,000 hours to captain a narrow body aircraft like a Boeing 737, which could take between eight to 10 years before progressing to a widebody aircraft.

“With the right qualifications, their chances of being employed by an airline would be better,” he said.

AirAsia had about 120 recruits last year.

Firefly’s marketing and communications head Angelina Corrina Fernandez said the frequency of the intake for new pilots depended on their network expansion.

Malaysian Flying Academy Sdn Bhd’s Lt Col (Rtd) Frank Chong Keng Lay acknowledged there was an oversupply of fresh graduate pilots, but said the situation would improve.

“Demand for pilots come in a cycle. For example, there was a shortage in 1995 as the enrolment was low.

“Recently, the intake is higher but the demand from airlines has not been growing at the same pace.”

Source from THE STAR ONLINE

Sometimes, it’s a long wait in the wings

PETALING JAYA: The road to becoming a commercial airline pilot is tough, as any cadet pilot will tell you.

Yet, many of the unemployed pilots are confident of landing a job, even if it means waiting for more than a year.

Mohd Zakaria, 24, said his batch of 24 students enrolled in 2008 but only one got a job.

“The industry needs a lot of pilots and finding a job also has to do with the timing of the intake.

“If you graduate and just missed the job intake, you would probably have to wait a year or so before the next window opens.

“But we are confident the industry will continue to grow.

“The risk is there and the competition is stiff.

“That is why we have to shine and stand out from the rest,” he said.

He added that he wanted to become a commercial pilot and did not want to join a flying club.

A 22-year-old cadet pilot said he waited almost a year before landing an interview with a local airline company with no guarantee of a job.

“I had about 20 students in my batch who graduated a year ago but only two or three landed jobs.

“It’s a long process, from the interview to qualifying as a passenger airline pilot,” he said.

Pilot, radio deejay and TV personality Johan Farid Khairuddin, 30, said the misperception among young graduates was that they would land a job with an airline immediately after graduating from flying school.

“Some think that you must fly with a major airline to become a pilot.

“But there are other jobs out there, such as flying instructors or being part of a flying tour.

“Some young pilots have told me they are not employed because they want a major airline opportunity,” he said.

Johan Farid, who has been flying since 2004, said there was a shortage of captains in the industry but a surplus of fresh cadet pilots and flying schools.

A 29-year-old pilot expressed surprise over the high number of flying schools in the country.

“The supply now definitely outweighs the demand.

“It was easier to get jobs several years ago when there were not many graduates or schools,” he said.

Source from THE STAR ONLINE