Garuda denies mass pilot exodus to Korean Airlines
Garuda denies mass pilot exodus to Korean Airlines
JAKARTA (JP): The president of the country's flag carrier
Garuda Indonesia, Soepandi, denied yesterday that a great number
of pilots had recently quit the airline.
"Only eight left the company out of the 679 pilots we employ,"
Soepandi told reporters at his office.
He admitted that the eight pilots, who navigated Airbus A-300
and Boeing B-767 aircraft, had crossed to Korean Airlines (KAL)
of South Korea.
"It's up to them whether to work with Garuda or not. The most
important things are that they told the management about their
resignations six month in advance, and that they have finished
their 10-year official obligations working with Garuda," he said
at a press conference also attended by dozens of the air
carrier's pilots.
He also denied that he had barred the eight pilots from
leaving Garuda and had begged KAL not to receive them.
Meanwhile, informed sources said that at least 27 senior
pilots had left Garuda over the past two weeks. They planned to
join KAL for better remunerations and carrier planning.
They said that Garuda pays a pilot about US$4,000 per month,
far lower than the $10,000 to $15,000 per month made by pilots at
overseas airlines such as Singapore Airlines and KAL.
According to Soepandi, Garuda is currently pursuing a
restructuring program in line with the government's plan to list
the company on stock exchanges by 1998.
"We will also consider arranging better pay for the pilots and
all employees on the ground."
"I want to stress that all of Garuda's 679 pilots have
performed with high dedication to the company. It's also normal
that some employees want to leave the firm and work for other
parties," he said.
When asked about the reasons for the resignation of the eight
pilots, he said: "Maybe they want a new experience."
A senior Garuda pilot, Shadrach M. Nababan, said that a pilot
usually undertakes a training course paid by the airline before
joining it. The types of the training, ranging between one to
one-and-half years, vary depending on what aircraft the pilot
will operate.
Nababan, who also chairs a communication forum for Garuda's
pilots, said that according to his records, there are currently
627 pilots working with Garuda, most of whom are senior.
"Almost 100 pilots have left Garuda since 1981. Some of them
have returned to the company because they had bad experiences at
their new places. But when they returned to Garuda, they had to
start their careers from the beginning," he said.
Career planning at Garuda also raised concerns from 39-year-
old Tarbiyanto, a B-747-200 pilot who has worked for the carrier
since 1978.
"Garuda has never considered the experience of a pilot who
pursued other training to operate another kind of aircraft," he
told The Jakarta Post.
He said that a pilot who underwent further training and then
operated a new type of aircraft, for example, would be considered
as a newcomer, even though the pilot had four years of experience
in operating another kind of aircraft.
Soepandi also told reporters that Garuda had never been
involved in delayed flights.
"During the period between June 30 and July 13, for example,
the rate of Garuda's flight delays for more than one hour is only
10.6 percent, still less than the maximum tolerable rate of 15
percent set by the International Air Transport Association," he
said.
He said that during the period, there were 2,891 Garuda
flights, of which only 298 were delayed for more than one hour.
The delays, he said, were mostly due to technical problems. (icn)