Asian low-cost airlines pushing up pilots' pay: official 
The growth of Asian low-cost carriers is helping to drive pilots' salaries sharply higher, but training is being expanded to meet demand, an industry official said Monday.
Andrew Herdman, director general of the Association of Asia-Pacific Airlines, said the new carriers tended to poach pilots from other airlines rather than train their own people.
"They own a large number of aircraft and they need to crew them," he told AFP. "In terms of what they are paying their pilots, they may be low-cost airlines but those are not low-cost pilots."
Herdman was speaking in Singapore on the sidelines of an aviation conference, where International Air Transport Association chief executive Giovanni Bisignani said competition for aircrew was a key challenge.
A total of 17,000 pilots annually have to trained for the 16,000 new aircraft needed by 2020, Bisignani said.
Investments were underway for pilot training in-house or through aviation schools, but for now pilot costs were jumping, Herdman said.
"We see pilots' salaries rising quite sharply, particularly in lower cost countries in the region," Herdman said. "Those cost pressures have an impact on the airlines and ultimately the overall cost for the industry."
Budget carriers have proliferated across Asia in recent years. They include Singapore's Tiger Airways, AirAsia of Malaysia, India's SpiceJet, Lion Air in Indonesia and Australia's Jetstar.
Wires