The Facts?

[SA ATCO]

Over the last few months there has been so much talk about the dramatic movement of pilots in SA due to the recruiting drive of SAA and others. The media has had articles about drastic shortages of pilots as well. What are the real facts as I am still encountering many unemployed pilots out there with 1000+ hours? Surely if there was such a shortage then these guys would have jobs!?

[Hi Lift]

Its true that there are many 1000+ hours pilots without work, but I think the airlines could be looking for more people with airline/jet/3000+ hours type of experience. I guess F/O are easy to find, but it must be harder finding suitable Captains.

[SA ATCO]

You are probably right but the shortage of Captains is a problem that is not easily solved. I believe that the airlines who are complaining the most about this should put their money where there mouths are and assist more of the low timers battling to meet their entry requirements. The SAA Cadet scheme is a root cause of there being a shortage of Captains as they occupy the right hand seat of turbo-props that would normally be filled by self improvers. The cadets then move on to SAA without ever attaining command on the TP hence very few FO's eligible for promotion to Captain. I know it is not politically correct to knock the cadet scheme but the truth is that this scheme is only benefitting SAA at the expense of the rest of the industry. Come on Link, SAX, etc. give us wannabees hope and do something about this situation.