Straits Times, 05.04.04
100 CAPTAINS, FIRST OFFICERS SHOW INTEREST
SIA, cargo arm recruiting pilots
By Karamjit Kaur
SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) and its cargo arm are looking for experienced pilots and more than 100 captains and first officers from the SAS Group - the largest Nordic airline - are interested.
Interviews began a week ago and those picked will undergo a brief training stint before flying for the SIA group.
However, these pilots will not be on SIA's permanent payroll. It is understood that they will be with SIA on a four-year contract because SAS now has a surplus of pilots. They will return to their parent company when the contract expires.
The current recruitment drive comes about eight months after SIA axed 26 pilots, following its first-ever loss of $312 million in the three months from April to June last year.
SIA, which employs about 1,800 pilots, is looking to increase capacity, now that Sars has blown over and the turbulence that hit the air travel industry after the Iraq war has subsided.
Speaking to The Straits Times in a telephone interview from Denmark last Friday, Captain Per Schroeder, 46, SAS vice-president (operations), said the airline was approached by SIA Cargo, which is aiming to build its own pool of pilots.
SIA Cargo, which flies to 67 cities in 36 countries, became a separate company within the SIA group in July 2001. It is wholly owned by the parent company.
It operates a fleet of 13 Boeing 747-400 Freighter planes and markets the belly-hold space in SIA's passenger aircraft.
Capt Schroeder said: 'We have a surplus of pilots at this time, so when the offer came, we opened it up to all our pilots and more than 100 were interested.
'We are informed that the pilots who are chosen will fly for SIA Cargo and the parent company as well.
'It is a four-year contract at the end of which the pilots will return to us.'
Industry observers say such arrangements between airlines are common and a fuss-free way to add or cut the number of pilots to meet the current demand.
When contacted, SIA's spokesman said recruitment is an 'ongoing process', adding: 'We are recruiting a number of experienced pilots to meet the anticipated increase in services in the coming future.'
She did not want to comment on the deal with SAS.
Captain Mok Hin Choon, president of the Air Line Pilots Association-Singapore, said: 'We will be discussing the implications of the move with the management.'
SIA Cargo's spokesman declined to divulge details, saying only that the airline would take delivery of three more planes in the next few years and is now hiring to keep pace with its growing fleet.
Separately, the airline has advertised for experienced captains and first officers in last week's issue of Flight International, an aviation magazine.