BDB funds Gulf Air pilots in $20mn scheme

Gulf Air has signed the first phase of an agreement with Bahrain Development Bank to provide training for Bahraini pilots and engineers, Gulf Daily News reports.

BDB will finance individual trainees via interest-free loans of up to BD30,000, to be paid back once they are employed by the airline. The scheme could provide the airline with more than 200 pilots and engineers over the next five years.

Demand for pilots in the Gulf is expected to double salaries to more than BD7,500 a month over the next two years, lessening the burden of repayment.

The airline itself will not pay anything towards training the new recruits. Trainees who drop out or fail will be liable to repay the cost of training, a Gulf Air spokesman said.

The first phase of the agreement will provide funding for 40 trainees at a cost of BD1.2 million.

BDB chairman Shaikh Ibrahim bin Khalifa said the agreement was a golden opportunity for young nationals.

"It is a help to Gulf Air - but it is an even bigger help to Bahrainis," he said.

Gulf Air president and chief executive Andre Dose said the move was an important step forward.
"It is important for Gulf Air, as the national carrier of the kingdom, to develop and maintain a pool of well-qualified and trained pilots for its current and future needs” he said.

Former Gulf Air pilot Ishaq Kooheiji, acting as an external advisor to BDB said in a presentation:
"There is a shortage of pilots worldwide and particularly in this region. There are 386 aircraft and 8,000 pilots in the region - and taking the average pilot salary as $10,000 (BD3,780) a month - they are paid $1 billion (BD378,000) per year.

"The rate of expansion in the region is astronomical - the big three airlines, Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways, ordered 237 aircraft last month, which means they need 5,000 pilots in the coming years.”
The first of its kind in the region, the agreement marks a departure from previous training models, Kooheiji said.

"Traditionally airlines would train the pilot and pay for it - but after 9/11 the cost is up and they do not have enough money - training pilots is a very expensive business.”

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