Asian Low Cost Airlines pushing up Pilots' pay
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Hong Kong
Posts: 360
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Asian Low Cost Airlines pushing up Pilots' pay
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.
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
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: Planet Earth
Posts: 672
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
It is not at all surprising that the LCCs have to increase their pay, but considering how bad their pay was to begin with I think we have a long long way to go until you can even compare CX to any of it unfortunately.
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Hong Kong
Posts: 651
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
To compare accurately between airlines you need to take into account total earnings, not what a CN earns here vs there. Using that criteria CX comes out quite unfavourably against most comparisons. Still, waiting 13+ years for command will do that!
There are obviously the unquantifiables such as fresh air, labour protection etc.
I have heard that over 70 people left the Seniors fleet last year for greener pastures. In the last millennium people left other airlines to join CX. It was quite nice of our train set managers to remove that training expense from other airlines;-)
There are obviously the unquantifiables such as fresh air, labour protection etc.
I have heard that over 70 people left the Seniors fleet last year for greener pastures. In the last millennium people left other airlines to join CX. It was quite nice of our train set managers to remove that training expense from other airlines;-)
