Minister of Transportation: 1,200 Pilots Still Unemployed

INDUSTRY.co.id - Jakarta - A total of 1,200 pilots are still unemployed due to lack of competence in accordance with provisions imposed by national airlines, said Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi.

"It is unfortunate when the national aviation industry is growing but there are still thousands of pilots who graduate flight school is still not working," said Minister of Transport to the media crew after opening the Office of Work Meeting (Rakerdin) Directorate General of Civil Aviation Ministry of Transportation in Jakarta on Thursday (7/9/2017)

According to the Minister of Transportation, the number of pilots who are still unemployed, among others, due to too many flight schools in Indonesia which amounted to at least 20 schools, while many of which did not have adequate facilities as a flight school.

He pointed out that there is an aviation school that has only one airplane so that the flight time of the pilot student is less, so that when graduated does not have adequate competence. Though ideally school should have at least four aircraft to be used to train flying students.

"Without intending to blame anyone, should school flight as much as it was merged into only 10 for example, in order not easy to pass students into pilots," he said.

He has requested the Director General of Air Transport to immediately conduct a flight merger today, so it is not easy to pass students into pilots.

The merger was, he said, considered important for the school to have good qualifications so as to be able to pass students into competent pilots.

To overcome the unemployment of the pilot as many as 1,200 people, he said, Minister of Transportation will gradually make a rigorous selection so that pilots who pass the competency test worth submitting to get employment in the airline.

The MoC also asks the pilot who has passed the selection and has the competence to be accepted in the airline.

"I ask the national airlines to accept the pilot who already has the competence, as well as the airlines that use many foreign pilots to also want to recruit competent pilots in the country," said Minister of Transportation.