Andrew Doyle/FRANKFURT
Lufthansa and British Airways are to draw up plans for large-scale pilot recruitment for the first time since the recession began.
Both carriers will be seeking candidates for ab initio training, as well as direct-entry pilots, while Lufthansa is also chasing foreign pilots in a bid to head off an immediate shortage.
The German flag carrier, which is facing the most critical shortage, is planning to recruit up to 150 Spanish pilots whose training was funded by Iberia. These pilots were selected and trained by the Lufthansa Pilots School on behalf of Iberia, but have not been offered flying positions with the Spanish flag carrier.
According to Capt. Robert Salzl, Lufthansa's senior vice-president for flight operation and chief pilot, the airline is negotiating with Iberia to employ the Spanish pilots on short-term contracts when its own supply of German cadets falls short of demand later this year.
"Our training school cannot give us enough young pilots," says Salzl. "We need pilots from other airlines." The discussions with Iberia should be concluded within "the next two months", he adds.
Such a deal would clearly benefit both airlines, with Lufthansa getting a large pool of pilots trained to its own standards who would be available until the Pilot School can supply greater numbers of crew, while Iberia would then eventually take back pilots with several years' flying experience. "Iberia would have the right to have them back whenever they need them," says Salzl.
Salzl also confirms that the airline is looking to recruit Swissair pilots partially trained by Lufthansa but also still without positions, although they would require permission to work from Germany as non-European Union citizens.
"Lufthansa is one of the possibilities, but we are in contact with other airlines," says Swissair.
Lufthansa estimates a need for 300 new pilots in 1996, but will only get 60 from its Pilots School, leaving a shortfall of 240. In 1997, the deficit will be 200, with around 60 cadets becoming available, against a projected 260 vacancies.
Belgium's Sabena is also hiring foreign pilots, mainly from Portugal and France, who now make up around 20% of its 480-strong pilot workforce, but they are employed on 12-month contracts. Management has responded to union concerns over the policy by claiming that the shortage is partly because Dutch flag carrier KLM employs Belgian pilots from Sabena and its subsidiaries.
Meanwhile, British Airways says that "...about 1,000 of our pilots will retire over the next five years [at 55], so we need to manage this and be able to match our pilot workforce to the predicted demand for air travel". BA will have offered pilot contracts to "all but a handful" of the 300 trainees whom it was unable to take on from earlier ab initio courses by March 1996. The carrier is also likely to recruit "some" direct-entry pilots, and is "...finalising plans to restart an ab initio training scheme".
The Air France Group, which employs 3,750 flight crew, says that it has no plans to recruit any pilots, until its restructuring ends in 1997.
Source: Flight International
