RP losing pilots to foreign airlines

Pilots of the Philippine Air Force and the country’s three major airlines are joining the exodus of skilled Filipino workers leaving for high-paying jobs abroad.

Many of the pilots are seeking jobs with foreign commercial airlines.

News reports from an international cable news network said India, the second most populous country in the world, is in need of as many as 4,000 pilots to fly the planes of several airlines operating there.

Industry sources said flag carriers Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific and Air Philippines are feeling the pinch of the mass hiring by foreign air carriers.

Last month, Indian job recruiters arrived in the country and promptly started interviewing possible recruits in a hotel in Makati.

A pilot working with a Philippine air carrier told The STAR that the Indian headhunters were offering very attractive compensation packages of as much as $6,000 for flight officers and $8,000 for experienced pilots of Boeing 737s.

Sources inside PAL told The STAR that the arrival of the Indian recruiters had reportedly panicked PAL management which is asking the Philippine National Police (PNP) to arrest and immediately deport those conducting recruitment activities without the coordination and authorization of the Philippine Overseas Employment Authority.

However, it was learned that the assault by foreign commercial airlines on the country’s pool of skilled pilots does not end with the departure of the Indians.

A source said recruiters for South Korean airline, Asiana, arrived recently to entice pilots to leave their jobs with local airlines.

The South Korean job recruiters are offering salaries higher than those dangled by the Indian counterparts with some experienced pilots being offered as much as $12,000 a month, the source added.

The source said that, effective last Feb. 1, PAL gave a 10-percent salary increase to their pilots as an incentive to stay.

The increase came despite safeguards built into PAL’s five-year employment contracts with their pilots to prevent piracy.

"While it is not much, its still an improvement," a PAL pilot said.

PAL pilots here reportedly earn a salary equivalent to around $3,000 a month.

While relatively high, the source said that many pilots see their pay as meager considering the steep price they had to pay to go through flying school.

Nowadays, one has to shell out as much as P2 million to complete a demanding two-year pilot training with a reputable flying school, the source added.