AN AVIATION expert yesterday warned on a clear and present danger hanging

 over the airline industry with the continuing brain drain of experienced pilots and airline technicians that may result in a desperate shortage of aircraft captains worldwide.

“All major airlines are now competing against each other for services of

 good aircraft captains and the Philippines are greatly affected by it because

our pilots are lured by huge salaries being offered,” said Capt. Benhur Gomez, a

former safety official of Philippine Airlines. 

Capt. Gomez, founder of the country’s No. 1 flying school Omni Aviation, said some international airlines are offering salaries of as much as $16,000 a month (P752,000) to Airbus A320 captains and $18,000 (P846,000) to $20,000 (P940,000) for Boeing 747 captains.

Omni Aviation in Clarkfield , Pampanga hosts PAL’s pilot school.

 “The shortage of aircraft captains is also being worsened by the booming airline industry in the country especially now that there are emerging budget airlines,” added Capt. Gomez.

Capt. Gomez said that to be an aircraft captain of an international airline, a pilot or first officer must have at least three years flying experience or equivalent to 3,000 flying hours.

This shortage of captains, Capt. Gomez said, could result to delay in

flights, and much worse, in scarcity of flights.

 With this, Capt. Gomez is encouraging students and professionals who want

 to have a career shift to look at this opportunity to have a good-paying job.

“Mahal nga ang pag-aaral pero kapag nakapasok na sa airline industry, in

two years time lang bawi na sa taas ng suweldo,” he said.

 At the same time, the founder of the country’s No. 1 aviation school has called

 on the government to strengthen its effort to crack down on “fly by night” flying schools so as not to compromise the safety and quality of future Filipino pilots who may be find jobs in other countries.

 “There should be a renewed effort from the government’s regulatory  body to go after fly by night flying schools which ostensibly pad the flying time of their students,” said Capt. Benhur Gomez.

 Capt. Gomez said these fly-by-night schools cheat on the flying time of their students to enable them to get their pilot’s license faster. “The  cheating is so blatant that some students log flying time even if they are not flying,” Capt. Gomez said.

 Capt. Gomez pointed out that training for a student-pilot is very important because it helps them to make the right decision, especially during emergency situations.

 “If the system fails, the judgment of an experienced pilot comes to play,” Capt.Gomez said.

He said that if the operation of these fly-by-night schools continues, the quality of which Filipino pilots are known for worldwide will be greatly affected.

“The best the government can do is to assist and encourage legitimate flying schools to produce enough co-pilots who could be developed as captains in two to three years,” Capt. Gomez said.

 Also, Capt. Gomez reported that Omni Aviation presently now has 27 training planes distributed to its two branches in Clark Field, Pampanga and Subic, Zambales.

Expansion plans through 2013 is also afoot for Omni, Capt. Gomez said.