Demand for Pinoy pilots increasing

MANILA, Philippines - Seeing continued strong demand for pilots worldwide, leading global aviation training services company Alpha Aviation has beefed up the capacity of their Clark-based Philippine unit to train more pilots with another Airbus A320 simulator.

Kunal Sharma, chief operating officer of Alpha Aviation Group (AAG) Philippines, said that with local Philippine carriers especially the low cost carriers (LCCs) aggressively expanding with the continuously growing air traffic, even the prospects of well-trained Filipino pilots looked bright.

Just looking at the Philippine airlines, there was a demand of 250 new pilots each year, he added.

Sharma said looking at the global job prospects for commercial pilots, the prospects get brighter with other foreign LCCs modernizing their fleet to address the growing air traffic unleashed by low fares offered by budget carriers.

They have data showing that there was a demand for 183,200 pilots over the next 20 years, Sharma added.

Sharma said Filipino pilots have a big advantage in the global job market.

“The Philippines has an advantage because of their young energetic students with excellent command of English,” Sharma said.

Filipino pilots have also built an excellent reputation over the past several years, Sharma said.

AAG Philippines local unit, formerly known as the Clark International Aviation, is gearing up to address this demand for new pilots by boosting their capacity to train more pilots with a new Airbus A320 Level D simulator that will be added to an existing Airbus A320 simulator in their Clark facility.

“This is a multimillion US-dollar investment that demonstrates our commitment to the Philippines, Philippine aviation, and training Filipinos for high-paying, professionally fulfilling jobs,” Sharma said.

AAG Philippines has secured a credit facility with Malaysian bank Maybank to finance their purchase of the new Airbus A320 Level D simulator.

Manuel Castañeda III, Maybank Philippines senior vice president and head of its Global Wholesale Banking Group, said they were firmly behind AAG Philippines in its bid to take advantage of an expected surge in pilot training demand in the Philippines.

“We’re very honored to finance this simulator and we’re looking forward to (financing) the next one,” Castañeda said yesterday in a press conference held in Makati to announce the Maybank credit facility for AAG Philippines.

Launched in 2006, AAG Philippines is currently the world’s largest provider of multi-crew pilot license (MPL) pilots. AAG Philippines is one of three academies under the Alpha Aviation Group, a UK-based provider of specialist training solutions to the international commercial aviation community.

AAG Philippines is also an Approved Training Organization (ATO) and a certified Type Rating Training Organization (TRTO) for the Airbus A320.