Our pilots are flying out

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor GUILLERMO TEJIDA III Desk Editor NANETTE L. GUADALQUIVER Busines Editor ERIC T. LORETIZO Sports Editor (On Leave) RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

It took a former president of the Philippine Airlines to bring it out, but the reports about the recruitment - pirating, if you choose to call it that - of Filipino pilots has been whispered about in various circles in recent months. The reports said that, not only are our pilots being enticed to move by Asian airlines, but even by some in the United States and Europe.

It should be a matter of pride to us that the products of our flying schools have become so desirable to foreign companies. Indeed, we have reason to be proud of our pilots because we know of many instances when they were praised and acknowledged by other countries for their skillful handling of flight situations that could have been fatally tragic, if not for their abilities and resourcefulness. There are even some jokes going around that, in the same way that our drivers are experts in "disponeering (making do, or making use of whatever is available)" our pilots, too, are masters in the way they handle their aircrafts.

But now the Philippine aviation industry is facing a real problem with the incursion of foreign companies into our country's flock of fliers. A business report recently said that an Indian airline needs 700 new pilots and is willing to pay them double or treble the amounts they are getting from local companies. There is also China that has started recruiting our pilots, because it needs about 10,000 to service their flights. China, too, is ready to pay much more than our local companies can.

There are proposals to impose a moratorium on the transfer of pilots to foreign companies. This has, however, been shot down by those in the industry themselves, pointing out that such prohibition would be unconstitutional.

Another proposal, the latest to come out, is to require a clearance period of six months for a pilot to be able to leave his present job in an airline to work for another one abroad.

That may work or may not, but our government should act on this at the soonest possible time. We have a reputation for using substandard aircraft in our military, but our commercial ones are quite competitive with any abroad as far as flight safety and pilot competence are concerned. It might not be so if such planes will be piloted by very new ones who have to be taken in because those who have the training and experience are all gone.*