Faced with a shortage of local pilots, aviation industry officials, advocates and representatives of civil airlines yesterday jointly called for the establishment of a program to train pilots, with the airlines and the trainees sharing part of the expenses.
Shieh Chung-gang (
On average, a company has to spend NT$7 million (US$212,121) to NT$8 million to train a pilot, he said.
These expenses include the costs of attending aviation schools overseas, acquiring license certifications and real-time flight training.
However, most of the airline companies have found from experience that the percentage of those who fail these training courses is high, he said.
"We suggest that the civil airlines and the association form a joint review committee to choose qualified personnel for pilot training," Shieh said. "The association will then assist him or her in acquiring loans, which can be provided by banks or the China Aviation Development Foundation."
The airlines will still have to provide approximately two-thirds of the training expenses, he said.
The suggestion was proposed at a seminar hosted by the People First Party legislators Liu Wen-hsiung (
Officials from the Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) were also present at the event.
Representatives from Mandarin Airlines, China Airlines, EVA Air and Uni Air cited other factors behind the pilot shortage.
Nearly all domestic carriers have been hurt by the competition from the high speed rail, they said, adding that because of the devaluation of the NT dollar, foreign pilots are in general paid more than domestic pilots.
The airlines also lamented the lack of progress in opening direct links. In light of the uncertainty regarding this policy, the airlines said they had to be cautious about drastically increasing the number of pilots.
A majority of the nation's pilots are retired Air Force officers. The Air Force, however, has expressed concern about retired officers going on to become commercial airline pilots.
Yu Yi-shi (
The CAA does not operate a pilot school, he said, adding that it is only in charge of certifying the legality and qualifications of the training center.
Liu, however, addressed the urgency of training more pilots.
Criticizing the airlines' refusal to invest in pilot training, he reminded them that they "cannot wait for the full opening of the market in China and start training pilots then."
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
RSS