Mideast airlines need more pilots - industry expert

An aviation industry figure claimed on Wednesday that Middle East airlines will continue hiring pilots as seat capacities swell following the influx of new aircraft.

Speaking to Arabian Business, Mustafa Ali, general manager of pilot training provider Alpha Aviation Academy, said demand for pilots would rise once new planes ordered by local carriers came on line.

“There are a lot of companies looking for pilots. In this region there are orders on all the big airliners’ books and I haven’t heard of anyone actually cancelling them,” he added.

“Even in these tough times we still have new airlines popping up like Wataniya Airways, which is an A320 operator,” he said.

Emirates Airline is expected to receive 23 additional planes by next year, with Qatar Airways, Gulf Air and Etihad Airways also expanding their fleets.
 
Some analysts have warned Middle East carriers that lower passenger demand coupled with increased capacity will lead to moderate or poor seat factors on flights.

But, Ali insisted that any slowdown during the economic crisis would be short lived.

“Big airlines don’t plan for one or two years – their growth plans are for five to 10 years and I can’t see this [economic crisis] lasting that long,” he said.

“We have been in downturns that have lasted one or two years. I remember after September 11 people said it would take five years for the industry to recover and within six months airlines were hiring pilots again.”

Ali also said it was unlikely local airlines would cut back or make redundancies in response to the downturn.

“In this region we have actually hired people and added more aircraft. It’s because we are still a young aviation society – we haven’t reached saturation point. I would be surprised if there were redundancies in the airlines here.”

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