PAL seeks govt help to subsidize pilot training
By AMITA LEGASPI
The country’s flag carrier on Saturday asked government’s help in subsidizing the training of Filipino pilots and granting them an income-tax holiday to level the playing field amid the exodus of senior pilots pirated by foreign airlines.
Captain John Andrews, vice-president for Flight Operations of Philippine Airlines, said 74 of their well-trained senior pilots or 20 percent of their pilot roster, left after being pirated by other airlines.
He said, during a news forum at Sulo Hotel, they cannot stop the pilots from leaving since they cannot equal the salary offered by the foreign airlines.
He said airlines in India, for example, offer the pilots a tax-free income of $10,000 a month compared to their gross salary of $4,000 to $7,000 they get from PAL.
He added among the countries pirating PAL pilots were Singapore, Korea, Qatar and even Vietnam.
He said the foreign airlines were able to offer the pilots big salaries because they did not pay for the training of the pilots.
He said foreign carriers, seeking to save on cost, time and effort, bypass the long pilot-training and maturing by luring away experienced first officers and captains from PAL.
He said PAL shells out P1.6 to P2.5 million to train a single pilot to fly a certain aircraft.
He added it takes, on an average, ten years to train, qualify, and nurture an individual with no flying experience to become a captain or the pilot in command of a B747 in a major airline like PAL.
At present, the local airline has barely above the minimum number of pilots required to operate its five B747-400 and 12 A340/A330 aircraft.
Since 2003, 14 Captains and two First Officers of A340/A330 and seven B747-400 Captains and five First Officers were pirated by foreign carriers.
Ceasar Lamberte, PAL vice-president for human resources, said they were hoping that the government can invest on their pilot training as he assured that the return of investment will be fast because of the growing demand for Philippine-trained pilots around the world.
The PAL officials also asked the government to grant pilots an income-tax holiday to match the tax-free status enjoyed by their colleagues who had been pirated by foreign airlines.-GMANews.TV
The country’s flag carrier on Saturday asked government’s help in subsidizing the training of Filipino pilots and granting them an income-tax holiday to level the playing field amid the exodus of senior pilots pirated by foreign airlines.
Captain John Andrews, vice-president for Flight Operations of Philippine Airlines, said 74 of their well-trained senior pilots or 20 percent of their pilot roster, left after being pirated by other airlines.
He said, during a news forum at Sulo Hotel, they cannot stop the pilots from leaving since they cannot equal the salary offered by the foreign airlines.
He said airlines in India, for example, offer the pilots a tax-free income of $10,000 a month compared to their gross salary of $4,000 to $7,000 they get from PAL.
He added among the countries pirating PAL pilots were Singapore, Korea, Qatar and even Vietnam.
He said the foreign airlines were able to offer the pilots big salaries because they did not pay for the training of the pilots.
He said foreign carriers, seeking to save on cost, time and effort, bypass the long pilot-training and maturing by luring away experienced first officers and captains from PAL.
He said PAL shells out P1.6 to P2.5 million to train a single pilot to fly a certain aircraft.
He added it takes, on an average, ten years to train, qualify, and nurture an individual with no flying experience to become a captain or the pilot in command of a B747 in a major airline like PAL.
At present, the local airline has barely above the minimum number of pilots required to operate its five B747-400 and 12 A340/A330 aircraft.
Since 2003, 14 Captains and two First Officers of A340/A330 and seven B747-400 Captains and five First Officers were pirated by foreign carriers.
Ceasar Lamberte, PAL vice-president for human resources, said they were hoping that the government can invest on their pilot training as he assured that the return of investment will be fast because of the growing demand for Philippine-trained pilots around the world.
The PAL officials also asked the government to grant pilots an income-tax holiday to match the tax-free status enjoyed by their colleagues who had been pirated by foreign airlines.-GMANews.TV
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