Garuda Indonesia is considering establishing a cadet pilot training school in joint-venture partnership with foreign or local companies.
Spokesman Pujobroto says from Jakarta that "we would like to work together with other partners for a pilot training school", although he says there is no timeframe for one to be set up.
The Indonesian national carrier has in recent years lost many pilots to higher-paying foreign and local airlines and Pujobroto says it needs to train new cockpit crew ahead of the delivery in the coming years of new aircraft, such as Boeing 737-800s which it has on firm order for delivery from 2009.
He says Garuda currently sends cadets to the government-run Indonesian Civil Aviation Institute for training but the airline anticipates a need for more pilots in future than the school can train. He adds that last week the carrier began taking applications for 40 places in the next cadet training scheme and there were 2,200 applicants.
"As part of our long-term planning we would like to set up a flying school," says Pujobroto. "We would like to work together with other parties, possibly with partners from other countries."
Source: FlightGlobal.com
