Piracy of pilots a fact of life, says ATO chief

The government is not worried over reports that many Filipino pilots are leaving the country to take jobs with airlines abroad.

Assistant Secretary Nilo Jatico, Air Transportation Office (ATO) director, said there are enough flying schools churning out new pilots to service both local and foreign airlines.

"There could be a little shortage but we have many flying schools that produce more pilots each year," he told The STAR in an interview.

"Our local carriers also have employment contracts that prohibit pilots from leaving them abruptly."

On the other hand, the government is happy that more Filipino seamen are manning commercial fleets worldwide.

Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas said the number of Filipino seafarers hired aboard foreign vessels registered the highest number last year.

"Deployment of sea-based overseas Filipino workers rose by more than eight percent or 18.705 higher than the 229,002 number of seafarers hired in 2004," she said.

Jatico said the ATO was doing everything possible to ensure that the quality of pilot training in local flying schools remains up to standard so foreign airlines can have a steady supply of Filipino pilots in the coming years.

"Ang binabantayan lang namin ay yung magkaroon ng mga hao-shao na piloto kaya tinutukan namin ang quality ng training sa mga flying schools natin (What we are guarding against is the appearance of poorly-skilled pilots so we are now monitoring the quality of pilot training of our flying schools)," he said.

The high global demand for skilled pilots is due to the rapid growth of the international aviation industry with many budget or low-cost airlines sprouting up in different countries, Jatico said.

On the other hand, the Philippine Air Force (PAF) said it has not been affected by the mass hiring of Filipino pilots by foreign commercial airlines.

"Our pilot attrition rate has remained normal for the past years," Lt. Col. Restituto Padilla, outgoing PAF Public Information chief, said. "It is still within manageable levels."

Pilots who retire from the service are easily replaced by many eager young men seeking pilot training, he added.

Padilla said the PAF chose to view the departure of trained pilots positively — that the loss of one or several pilots was actually a gain for the commercial aviation sector.

"They are not a big loss because these Air Force pilots who leave to join the general aviation sector help it to become safer," he said.

"They are getting very experienced pilots from the Philippine Air Force."

Meanwhile, an executive of Cebu Pacific Air said the company views the piracy of Filipino pilots as a part of the business, pointing out that it has long been a practice among foreign airlines to hire pilots from other countries.

"It has been going on for a long time," the executive said. "It is an international practice."

The executive said it was up to each airline to take measures to protect itself from being "headhunted" for experienced pilots.

Sto. Tomas meanwhile said foreign employers continue to hire Filipino seamen despite competition from other countries like China, India and Myanmar.

"On the maritime front in particular, the Philippines does not compete on cheap labor costs, but on stringent adherence to international standards," she said.

Japan has signified its intention to recruit Filipino ship officers, she added.

Sto. Tomas said the Filipino seafarer’s skills and excellence are solidly anchored on the country’s consistent adherence to the International Maritime Organization’s Standards of Training Certification and Watchkeeping Convention.

"DOLE-led efforts through the Maritime Training Council, in collaboration with the Commission on Higher Education, (are) now in the works to enable graduates of engineering courses in the country’s universities and colleges to shift, train and study to be marine engineers," she said.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration is undertaking measures to ensure the continuous deployment of Filipino seamen abroad, Sto. Tomas said. — Rainier Allan Ronda, Mayen Jaymalin