A senior official at Indonesia's transportation ministry said on Thursday that Indonesia faces shortages of pilot supply amid the increasing number of aircraft passengers every year and plans of Indonesian airlines to increase their fleets, local media reported here.
"Generally, with the current growth in passenger numbers for air transportation reaching 15 percent every year, there is a wide gap in the availability of local pilots," Air Transportation Director General Heri Bhakti said.
Heri was talking on the sidelines of the Indonesian National Air Carriers Association (Inaca) general meeting in Jakarta.
He added that in 2010 there were around 51.7 million passengers on domestic flights, an increase of 18 percent over the 43.8 million recorded in 2009.
The association also saw an increase in international routes that recorded 6.6 million passengers in 2010, far more than the 5 million passengers in 2009.
This situation would force air carrier companies to increase their fleets, which will require an addition of up to 600 pilots a year, Heri said, adding that the current output of pilots from the eight local aviation schools only amounted to around 200 to 300 people a year.
By the middle of 2011, there were around 7,000 pilots working for Indonesian airlines, and 300 of them were foreigners.
Source: http://www.philstar.com
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