Airforce may train SAA pilots with taxpayer's money
Date: 22 June 2009
The following article is a rough translation from the Afrikaans Sake24 publication:
By James-Brent Styan
South African airways (SAA) hopes to begin training commercial pilots again next year.
Ms Robyn Chalmers, spokeswoman for SAA, told Fin24 that the airline is working with the airforce on a project for the training of pilots.
The new program is named the African Aviation Training Initiative and taxpayers may in the future pay for the training of pilots.
Chalmers said that the training of commercial pilots is in the national interest.
"The options being investigated have determined that national resources must be used to train future pilots".
According to Chalmers, the program has already incorporated a management structure and strategy into a business plan.
"The business plan is already being spoken about at Cabinet level".
SAA cancelled its cadet program in 2006 when the airline could no longer afford it. The last group of pilots who were trained by SAA began their training in October 2006. The group of nine were all from previously disadvantaged groups and completed their initial training in May last year.
The cancellation of the training program saved SAA about R60m per year.
According to Chalmers, the decision to close the cadet program was the right one.
"SAA is firstly an airline and therefore is not in the business of training pilots".
As a result, SAA is struggling to find pilots from previously disadvantaged groups.
The most recent figures indicate that that SAA has 789 pilots, of which 89% are white men and women.
The new training plan for commercial pilots will be able to address these demographic figures.
"A massive amount of money is required to implement a well structured pilot training program that will redress the demographic balance in a suitable time period. This kind of financing is totally outside the capabilities of the aviation industry," Chalmers told Fin24. "If a solution for the challenge to financing can be found, then the new strategy can begin in 2010".
Helmoed-Römer Heitman, a military researcher, told Fin24 on Friday that there had already been informal talks between SAA and the airforce for a number of years.
"The talks are largely based on two concepts. Firstly, the airforce does not want to hinder their current pilots from joining SAA, provided they first serve in the airforce for a few years. The second concept is that there is sufficient ability in the airforce for the training of pilots. This could mean that in the future, the airforce could train all the SAA pilots".
According to Heitman, there is support for a combined flying school for SAA and the airforce in Hoedspruit.
The SAA pilots are:
2 coloured women
3 Indian women
18 coloured men
27 Indian men
37 black men
45 white women
657 white men
