I will try to explain why all this is happening at Pegasus. At least that's what I came up with
!
MNG (Cargo) Airlines ceased their passanger operations last Jan. They used to fly B737's. Following that the MNG pilots got hired by Pegasus. As you can figure out Pega currently filled their quota for the summer season.
Now they are fishing for the fall season, because they fear that a big number of their f/o's might transfer - again - to Turkish Airlines in the upcoming months.
For those who are not familiar with the Turkish Aviation, Turkish airlines have been growing rapidly for the past couple of years - especially this year. By August '06 they will have a total of 100+ A/C and not nearly the number of flight crew to fly them.
Btw. Turkish Airlines only hires Turkish nationals...
Pegasus used to sponsor F/O's B737 type ratings in the past (like all other Charter Airlines) with a 3 year, $18,000 bond. Don't forget this agreement is valid for Turkish nationals. -- I don't believe they sign 3 year agreements with foreigners.--
Anyway, more than 50+ f/o's left Pegasus for Turkish Airlines last year. And some of the f/o's still face legal issues due to this past agreement.
The moral of the story is that Pegasus is sick of pilots leaving the company after sponsoring type-ratings. Now, they started with this training b.s! I still think it's wrong and I will try to explain the situation further...
It's the same story with AtlasJet, Onur Air and others at the moment. Last month approx. 50+ f/o's left Atlasjet & Onur for TK. And the private companies went to the government to freeze the transfers. And the talks are still ongoing.
The next quesiton is, why do the Turkish F/O's transfer to Turkish Airlines?
- 1.5 to 2x the monthly salary + overtime (I believe over 75h/month)
- 4 bonuses a year.
- Not a charter airline, more time at home...
- Owned by the government, more secure...
So, what should the charter airlines do to stop these transfers?
- Increase the pay! - that's the most important step...
- No one wants to fly 100+ hours for 8+ months.
- No one wants to be based overseas (Iran, Saudi Arabia, Dubai etc.) for months in Winter.
For a foreigner flying in Turkey, people usually use the charters for time building and take off once they reach the hours. So, the charters end up a high end flight school for low houred pilots. And the charter airlines end up being in a training phase year around. And that's exactly what Pegasus is doing at the moment!
To stop this, value your flight crew, treat them with respect, pay more money to your pilots - and no one will leave every other month!
That was my $.02