Shortage of pilots hits Indonesia too
The pressing problem of a lack of pilots in Indonesia — something that is replicated throughout Asia — remains unanswered as the growth in demand for flights far exceeds the capacity to train new pilots.
According to Boeing’s commercial pilot training arm, Alteon Training, India has fewer than 3,000 pilots today but will need more than 12,000 by 2025, while China needs an average of 2,200 new pilots a year just to keep up with air travel growth.
In Indonesia’s case, the Transportation Ministry has reported that requests for pilots from local and foreign operators to the Indonesian Aviation Institute (STPI) stood at 535 as of June, while the center can only produce 45 in the whole year.
There are plans to expand the capacity of the STPI to 120 graduates per year, starting 2008. However, that will still not be enough to meet the growing demand.
Moreover, despite their training at the STPI, the newly graduated pilots cannot directly be employed by the commercial airlines as they only have 180 hours flying time on training aircraft.
On top of the lack of supply, many experienced pilots are being headhunted by foreign airlines, which offer salaries ranging between US$10,000 and $15,000 per month — roughly five times what a pilot earns in Indonesia — and better working condition.
“Based on my calculations, about 150 Garuda pilots have been lured away by foreign operators,” Garuda captain Rendy Sasmita Adji Wiboto said.
An expert on transportation safety and a former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Commission (KNKT), Setio Rahardjo, said that flight safety nowadays was at risk not only from “rookie mistakes”, but also from pilot fatigue.
“Pilots tend to fly more due to an increase in flight frequency due to the lack of pilots. This could pose a serious threat to safety.”
John Belson, a captain who is also provides training on International Air Transportation Association (IATA) operational safety audits, said that Indonesia was not only suffering from a lack of pilots, but also a lack of maintenance crew.
10/09/07 Andi Haswidi/The Jakarta Post, Indonesia