CAL SENDS HOME PILOTS AMID GLOBAL SHORTAGE

CAL SENDS HOME PILOTS AMID GLOBAL SHORTAGE  

CARIBBEAN Airlines Limited (CAL) is sending home 115 pilots at a time when there is a growing worldwide shortage of these professionals. 

A recent poll of international flight operators found that a huge lack of pilots is looming as the world recovers from Covid-19. 

Primary reasons are early retirement of some pilots who were furloughed during the pandemic, aging professionals, limited training over the past few months and overall reduced interest in the field. 

A new report by industry specialist firm OliverWyman projects a worldwide shortage of between 34,000 and 50,000 pilots by 2025. 

The firm said that 62 per cent of airlines “listed a shortage of qualified pilots as a key risk.” 

The report stated that global in-service fleet has recovered in size to 76 per cent of pre-Covid-19 levels. 

China’s airline industry has recovered by 99 per cent, according to OliverWyman. 

“The most important question,” the report stated, is “how large the gap would be between supply and demand.”  

The study found that large carriers would face “a real challenge.” 

The report said that airlines should urgently invest in pilot training and recruitment. 

“How quickly airlines can re-grow their operation will be guided by how quickly they can re-grow their pilot ranks,” said OliverWyman.  

“Those that take action now increase the agility of the airlines to capture demand as it recovers.” 

The T&T Government, which owns CAL, has announced that 115 of the airline’s 225 pilots would sent home, and given a total of some $110 million in severance payments. 

Trinidad and Tobago Airline Pilots Association is challenging the dismissals. 

CAL pilots took a pay cut last in 2020 when the airline was grounded by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Aviation experts say CAL may face a crisis in seeking to hire pilots at the end of the pandemic, and that recruitment costs could be steep. 

“There would be increasing demand for pilots,” one expert stated, “and the industry would be forced to pay top dollar. 

“CAL may have to send up its labour costs in order to stay in the air.”