THAI graduates are finding it hard to secure positions as commercial airline pilots despite the high global demand for their services in the aviation industry.
Thailand’s Civil Aviation Training Centre president Piya Atmungkun said that although international airline operators are competing to offer jobs to pilots, Thai pilots cannot find jobs.
He said between 600 and 700 newly-graduated pilots are struggling to secure seats in cockpits.
According to the Bangkok Post, Piya said that aviation programmes and pilot training schools have mushroomed in the country, but many of them fail to meet international standards.
He said new pilots are being churned out continually – but there is no information on how many of them are actually employable by airline companies.
He added that this has led to the oversupply of pilots who aren't up to scratch.
“The picture of the Thai aviation industry is being distorted by the claim that we lack pilots. It's true there is a scarcity of pilots, but that demand is for experienced, not new pilots,” Piya said.
He also believes that the plan to establish a “city of aviation” in Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) would only increase the supply of domestic aviation personnel.
“Even before the EEC officially opens, there is already a high number of aviation graduates.
“But companies will not employ them if their qualifications are not certified according to international standards,” he added.
Piya said that one solution suggested by the UN-based International Civil Aviation Organisation is that Thailand set up an aviation centre of excellence in the EEC which would also enrol students from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, African nations and those under the former Soviet republic.
Piya said that if given the green light, the new centre would offer high-quality training at a more affordable price than Singapore.