Airlines scramble for pilots and planes
Fri "The Straits Times" (Singapore)
Airlines scramble for pilots and planes
By Karamjit Kaur
Shortage of both as more budget carriers enter the market; some companies have even resorted to poaching staff
BUDGET airlines around the region, rushing to take to the skies this year, could run into some turbulence in their search for aircraft and pilots.
Both are in short supply.
More than 10 low-cost carriers have already taken off or will do so in Asia this year and the aircraft of choice for many has been the Airbus 320.
They are hard to come by, said the region's leading aircraft leasing company, Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise (Sale).
As a result, as one airline executive put it, 'budget carriers are going all around the world hunting for planes and when we find them, we worry that our competitors will be on to the same source too'.
The news is not any better when it comes to pilots.
The general rule is eight pilots per aircraft and where the airline's advertisements have failed to show results, carriers have resorted to poaching. Experienced crew from main line and rival budget carriers said they had even been wined and dined in discreet head-hunting sessions.
It is a sign of the times, said the managing director of the Sydney-based Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, Mr Peter Harbison.
'It is always an issue when we get bursts of very rapid growth, for supply to match demand and this applies to not just aircraft and pilots but also other resources like ground handling services.'
For planes, the problem could last a while, said a spokesman for Sale.
'In our core Airbus 320 market, we have reached the point where, industry-wide, there are no more new aircraft available this year and fewer than 15 due to come off lease from all lessors combined.'
He added: 'We will have only two new aircraft available for lease next year.'
The A320 family (A318, A319, A320 and A321) is the most popular Airbus model in the Asia Pacific, with 21 delivered in the first six months of this year, most of it going to airlines in China.
Both Valuair and Singapore Airlines-backed Tiger Airways, which starts flying next quarter, have opted for the single-aisle A320, which seats up to 180 passengers.
Valuair hopes to add two aircraft every year to its fleet while Tiger's plan is to have up to 12 planes by 2006.
Sources say Qantas' new start-up here, which also starts operating by year-end, has also picked the A320.
Other airlines that fly the same aircraft include SilkAir and India's Air Deccan.
Leasing a new single-aisle Airbus costs about $489,000 a month.
But with new planes in short supply, carriers might have to settle for older aircraft coming off lease, said Sale's spokesman. 'The supply and demand equation today has changed very significantly compared to a year ago.'
Tiger, however, contends that it has no problems getting its share, possibly because of its pedigree.
Chief executive Patrick Gan said: 'Who would you want to lease your aircraft to? The credentials of the lessee and who its shareholders are, are very important and they do not come any better than this (Tiger). I am getting calls from leasing companies.'
But as for finding pilots, he said there are fewer of them around relative to the number of new airlines coming up.
He made it clear, however, that Tiger did not poach.
According to its website, captains in Tiger are paid a flat salary of between $14,000 and $16,000.
Mr Gan would not say how many pilots the airline had hired so far but confirmed that 'a few' had been seconded from SIA temporarily.
Mr Jimmy Lau, executive director of Valuair, which has 16 pilots, said: 'We have enough who come to us willingly. We do not need to go around pinching from other airlines.'
One target for airlines looking to hire A320 pilots would be SilkAir.
It has 95 pilots and will hire more as it plans to increase its fleet from 10 planes now to 16 by 2008.
Even with the recently sealed deal that gives SilkAir pilots a higher salary and more rest days, some of them have left for budget carriers.
One who made the switch after eight years in SilkAir said: 'It is truly a different world, a more relaxed one.'
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