As Asian Air Travel Soars, Pilots Are Scarce

Asia’s economies are booming, and so is demand for air travel across the region. Flying for business and pleasure is increasingly affordable for the combined 1.1 billion middle-class residents of China and India. All those potential fliers have translated into new orders for aircraft makers—Asia-Pacific airlines will buy about 8,000 planes worth $1.2 trillion over the next 20 years, according to Airbus. Less noticed is another group of beneficiaries: Asian pilots.
The International Civil Aviation Organization forecasts that airlines worldwide will need an average of 49,900 new pilots a year from 2010 to 2030 as fleets expand, yet current annual training capacity is only 47,025. The shortage is likely to be acute in Asia as three big carriers trying to capitalize on the region’s rising prosperity, Cathay Pacific Airways, Qantas Airways, and Emirates Airline, await deliveries of about 400 planes. That’s already sparking bidding wars for cockpit crews, with Emirates offering tax-free salaries and four-bedroom villas for captains and AirAsia, the region’s biggest budget airline, providing tuition-free training for airmen willing to join its ranks.
“It’s a major issue and will be a big challenge to the industry’s growth,” says Binit Somaia, a Sydney-based analyst for the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA). “Even if you can find the pilots, you have to pay top dollar for them because they are so scarce.”
This year the Asia-Pacific region’s carriers ordered 133 commercial jets with more than 100 seats each, or 23 percent of new orders globally, according to aviation forecaster Ascend Worldwide. With the economies of China and India expected to grow at more than double the global rate in the next few years, Asian carriers are likely to continue expanding. One result: “There will be a shortage of pilots, and this is going to last for a while because it takes time to produce a good pilot,” says the president of the Airline Pilots Association of the Philippines, Elmer Pena. In July and August, Philippine Airlines canceled flights and rebooked passengers after losing 27 pilots to higher-paying jobs abroad.
The expected pilot shortage, plus hiring by a new crop of regional budget carriers, could push wages higher.
Basic pay for Singapore Air captains flying twin-aisle Boeing 777s or Airbus A330s begins at 9,300 Singapore dollars ($7,138) a month, excluding allowances, says P. James, president of the Air Line Pilots Association of Singapore. Pilots also earn a productivity allowance of as much as $2,917 for flying 70 hours a month.
Emirates offers a starting monthly salary of 34,410 dirhams ($9,368) for captains. That excludes benefits such as hourly flying and productivity payments. Its other perks include a tax-free basic salary, profit sharing, villas for captains, and free dry cleaning of uniforms.
14/10/10 Chan Sue Ling/Business Week