Sriwijaya Flying School To Turn Out 60 Pilot A Year

Pangkalanbaru, Bangka, Sept 10 (ANTARA) - PT Sriwijaya Air said PT National Aviation Management (NAM) Flying School in Bangka Belitung could turn out 60 pilots per year. Many more fliers would be needed with expansion plan of Sriwijaya Air, President of the airline Chandra Lie said here on Monday. Chandra said Sriwijaya Air is expected to operate 10 new units of aircraft that more pilots would be needed. The graduates from NAM will all be employed by Sriwijaya Air under working contract and scholarship provided by the airline. He said the new pilots would have good opportunity to develop their career with the airline, which has big expansion plan. "In the future we would give priority to local people to build up career in Sriwijaya Air," he added. Currently there is little interest shown by local young people in developing career in the airline as they prefer to work in mining sector, he noted. Earlier Transport Minister EE Mangindaan said PT. National Aviation Management (NAM) should continue to keep pace with fast advancing technology in air transport sector. "NAM must not be lagging behind in technology to guarantee the quality of its graduates," Mangindaan said. He said the school is expected to provide a solution to problem over shortage of trained pilots in the country. A number of Indonesian airlines still hire foreign fliers with much higher salaries.