SIA recruiting cadet pilots from India, S'poreans shunning this job?

SNAblog · Jul 10, 2011

Is SIA having difficulty finding Singaporeans as cadet pilots? Are there no university graduates out there who are interested in this job? Even an Indian is amused by this. Therefore it is no surprise that many Indian PMETs who came here openly display their arrogance attitude towards the local, thinking that they are head-and-shoulder above Singaporeans.

http://nishadshahrukh.wordpress.com/2011/07/02/sia-recruiting-cadet-pilots-from-india/

SIA recruiting cadet pilots from India
By Nishad

Pilots used to be a much sought-after profession in Singapore, but it appears that Singaporeans are ’shunning’ the job as well which prompted Singapore Airlines (SIA) to put up a job advertisement in India to recruit and train Indian nationals to become SIA pilots.
According to an amused netizen who tipped us off on the news, he saw the SIA ad on the Times of India in April seeking specifically
‘Citizens of India’ as SIA cadet pilots:

Besides the usual physical attributes, prospective candidates must have at least 5 Credits in the GCE ‘O’ level and to possess a good command of English.

SIA will sponsor successful candidates to acquire an Airline Transport Pilot’s Licence at Pilot Training Schools in Singapore and overseas after which they will be bonded for a period of seven years.

It is puzzling that SIA did not open the job to young Singaporeans many of whom are more than qualified to become its cadet pilots and have to incur extra expenses by putting up job advertisements in India.

Are Indian nationals better pilots than Singaporeans?

In all likelihood, they are probably preferred over Singaporeans due to lower pay. Furthermore, being foreigners, they are unlikely to demand much from SIA and will have lower bargaining rights.

johnny333 · Jul 10, 2011

With Tiger having "problems" I wouldn't be surprised that SIA has started interviewing Tiger's pilots to join SIA. Only thing in doubt is what language the interview is conducted in, don't think it's in english :biggrin:

IR123 · Jul 10, 2011

SNAblog said:
SIA recruiting cadet pilots from India
By Nishad

Pilots used to be a much sought-after profession in Singapore, but it appears that Singaporeans are ’shunning’ the job as well which prompted Singapore Airlines (SIA) to put up a job advertisement in India to recruit and train Indian nationals to become SIA pilots.

Why does this indian think that Singaporeans are shunning the job?

Had he considered that SIA could be shunning Singaporeans in favour of Indians?

Perhaps SIA should comment. In fact it is good to clarify so that we can ascertain the correctness of this indian's perception.

GOD IS MY DOG · Jul 10, 2011

sooner or later there'll be a plane crash...............better to stay away from SIA now................

hope when the plane crashes...............LKY and whole family on board..............

Soul_Reaper · Jul 10, 2011

IR123 said:
Why does this indian think that Singaporeans are shunning the job?

Had he considered that SIA could be shunning Singaporeans in favour of Indians?

Perhaps SIA should comment. In fact it is good to clarify so that we can ascertain the correctness of this indian's perception.

SIA will not tell you the truth.

A pilot friend of mine told me the decision was from the very top. Apparently some million dollar minister had promised the Ah Neh government this concession in return for letting SIA have access and flights to more Ah Neh destinations.

Btw my pilot friend is quitting SIA to join Qantas. He sees no future for SIA anymore. After 12 years in the RSAF and another 8 years with SIA.... he finally saw the light and will be moving his whole family over to Oz.

johnny333 · Jul 10, 2011

Soul_Reaper said:
Btw my pilot friend is quitting SIA to join Qantas. He sees no future for SIA anymore. After 12 years in the RSAF and another 8 years with SIA.... he finally saw the light and will be moving his whole family over to Oz.

That is a long time to "find the light" .

In my day many "saw the light" during NS :biggrin:

hairylee · Jul 10, 2011

Soul_Reaper said:
SIA will not tell you the truth.

A pilot friend of mine told me the decision was from the very top. Apparently some million dollar minister had promised the Ah Neh government this concession in return for letting SIA have access and flights to more Ah Neh destinations.

Btw my pilot friend is quitting SIA to join Qantas. He sees no future for SIA anymore. After 12 years in the RSAF and another 8 years with SIA.... he finally saw the light and will be moving his whole family over to Oz.

It is not a case of seeing the light. It is just that he has reached the end of his economic life cycle. Why didn't he see it coming earlier when the going was smooth.

halsey02 · Jul 10, 2011

johnny333 said:
That is a long time to "find the light" .

In my day many "saw the light" during NS

Why were they living in 'darkness'? have to go for NS to see the 'light'?? but there are 60% are moles, they will never see the 'light' and never even know that they are 'naked'.

IR123 · Jul 10, 2011

Soul_Reaper said:
SIA will not tell you the truth.

A pilot friend of mine told me the decision was from the very top. Apparently some million dollar minister had promised the Ah Neh government this concession in return for letting SIA have access and flights to more Ah Neh destinations.

Btw my pilot friend is quitting SIA to join Qantas. He sees no future for SIA anymore. After 12 years in the RSAF and another 8 years with SIA.... he finally saw the light and will be moving his whole family over to Oz.

Air rights are often negotiated. If that is true, then by substituting indians for singaporeans, they would gain greater profitability. However pilot slots are scarce and thus those local singaporeans who desire to be pilots may be affected.

Again, if that is true, then SIA can argue that it is responsible for its own profitability only. Being a MNC, it can source its human capital from the entire international market. They will not be wrong in making such an argument.

I just find it sad that singaporeans are giving way to foreigners. Btw, congratulations to your friend.

johnny333 · Jul 10, 2011

halsey02 said:
Why were they living in 'darkness'? have to go for NS to see the 'light'?? but there are 60% are moles, they will never see the 'light' and never even know that they are 'naked'.

It's hard to imagine but many of the pre-NS kids were just gullible students. NS was where many learned to cheat, swear, curse,.... :o

SNAblog · Jul 10, 2011

Do you guys remember this letter from James Tan? Here is a Singaporean who already got his pilot licence, and yet SIA couldn't even bother to call him up for an interview. Instead, the national carrier chose to train Indian nationals with full board and lodging provided, and a career with SIA as First Officer. This is what 60% had voted for, and the 40% will have to bear with this kind of treatment for another five or ten more years.

My career can’t take off

$140,000 spent on pilot’s licence but I can’t land a job with local carriers
05:55 AM May 13, 2010
Letter from James Tan

I AM a cadet pilot who has graduated from the flying college which trains all of Singapore Airline’s pilots, be it for the main fleet, cargo division, or SilkAir. I belong to a group of about 20 Singaporeans who were willing to pay for the training course at the Singapore Flying College (a subsidiary of SIA).

This training course cost me about $140,000 to complete.

Even though no promise of a job was made, I was still willing to go through the course hoping for at least an interview for consideration for an SIA job.

But the carrier seems to prefer to take in foreign nationals (including some from Malaysia, India and Hong Kong) over the current crop of local Singaporeans, who have coughed up a large amount of cash and have graduated with a Commercial Pilot Licence – only to be bypassed by this group of foreign nationals SIA has hired with zero hours of flying experience, and provided with training from scratch.

We Singaporeans are being overlooked by SIA without so much as an interview. Most of us have to look to the low-cost carriers like Jetstar and Tiger for jobs, as these are the only airlines based out of Singapore that can take in pilots like us with few hours of flying time.

However, Jetstar has a policy of taking in retired air force pilots, which means Tiger remains our only hope of employment.

Setting our sights on jobs with overseas airlines is proving to be a major hurdle. I have sent in more than 200 applications to airlines all over the world but I’m usually rejected because I am a low-hour pilot or because the aviation authority in that country has a job protection clause in place for their pilots from their own nations. For example, Malaysian and Indonesian carriers only allow low-hours pilots provided they are citizens of those countries.

This means the majority of the Singaporean pilots who have paid for their own training are hung out to dry, since we have to vie for limited places with the foreigners for cadet pilot positions, and we are not very attractive to airlines outside Singapore due to our low hours or the jobs policies put in place by other countries’ aviation authorities.

So, why does our national carrier prefer to take in foreign cadet pilots with zero hours of flying time over their own local pilots, who have paid their dues in the local pilot training school?

Aspiring pilots in Singapore who want to pay their own way through their training should think twice. Career opportunities are very limited and the cost of training is extremely high. Could SIA comment on why local pilots who were trained at their subsidiary training school aren’t given so much as a job interview?

http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC100513-0000071/My-career-cant-take-off

Ash007 · Jul 10, 2011

I believe many pilots from the RSAF are bonded to it for a prolonged period of time. If I remember correctly, usual contracts are about 10 years. So 12 years with the RSAF is not that unusual. Most RSAF pilots do end up working for the national carrier. SIA used to well known and the pay are pretty good as well. Not sure about now and the working condition. This news probably means that their pay would be substantially reduced or hampered for them. Lets just hope they don't stop banning SIA like what happened to Tiger airways in other countries.

johnny333 said:
That is a long time to "find the light" .

In my day many "saw the light" during NS

halsey02 · Jul 10, 2011

johnny333 said:
It's hard to imagine but many of the pre-NS kids were just gullible students. NS was where many learned to cheat, swear, curse,.... :o

In my time, smoke, drink, f#$@K & smoke ganja!..no kidding, no necessary in that order, plus what you have mentioned, swear, curse , cheat & the ultimate skill, learn how to 'taichi' & skive from real work.

sense · Jul 10, 2011

From SIA HR department: Indian pilots are cheaper to hire.

ThugSin · Jul 10, 2011

ginfreely · Jul 11, 2011

SNAblog said:
Do you guys remember this letter from James Tan? Here is a Singaporean who already got his pilot licence, and yet SIA couldn't even bother to call him up for an interview. Instead, the national carrier chose to train Indian nationals with full board and lodging provided, and a career with SIA as First Officer. This is what 60% had voted for, and the 40% will have to bear with this kind of treatment for another five or ten more years.

My career can’t take off

$140,000 spent on pilot’s licence but I can’t land a job with local carriers
05:55 AM May 13, 2010
Letter from James Tan

I AM a cadet pilot who has graduated from the flying college which trains all of Singapore Airline’s pilots, be it for the main fleet, cargo division, or SilkAir. I belong to a group of about 20 Singaporeans who were willing to pay for the training course at the Singapore Flying College (a subsidiary of SIA).

This training course cost me about $140,000 to complete.

Even though no promise of a job was made, I was still willing to go through the course hoping for at least an interview for consideration for an SIA job.

But the carrier seems to prefer to take in foreign nationals (including some from Malaysia, India and Hong Kong) over the current crop of local Singaporeans, who have coughed up a large amount of cash and have graduated with a Commercial Pilot Licence – only to be bypassed by this group of foreign nationals SIA has hired with zero hours of flying experience, and provided with training from scratch.

We Singaporeans are being overlooked by SIA without so much as an interview. Most of us have to look to the low-cost carriers like Jetstar and Tiger for jobs, as these are the only airlines based out of Singapore that can take in pilots like us with few hours of flying time.

However, Jetstar has a policy of taking in retired air force pilots, which means Tiger remains our only hope of employment.

Setting our sights on jobs with overseas airlines is proving to be a major hurdle. I have sent in more than 200 applications to airlines all over the world but I’m usually rejected because I am a low-hour pilot or because the aviation authority in that country has a job protection clause in place for their pilots from their own nations. For example, Malaysian and Indonesian carriers only allow low-hours pilots provided they are citizens of those countries.

This means the majority of the Singaporean pilots who have paid for their own training are hung out to dry, since we have to vie for limited places with the foreigners for cadet pilot positions, and we are not very attractive to airlines outside Singapore due to our low hours or the jobs policies put in place by other countries’ aviation authorities.

So, why does our national carrier prefer to take in foreign cadet pilots with zero hours of flying time over their own local pilots, who have paid their dues in the local pilot training school?

Aspiring pilots in Singapore who want to pay their own way through their training should think twice. Career opportunities are very limited and the cost of training is extremely high. Could SIA comment on why local pilots who were trained at their subsidiary training school aren’t given so much as a job interview?

http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC100513-0000071/My-career-cant-take-off

That means not worth for anyone to pay for the $140k course, must get hired as pilot by SIA first and they will train for free, no need to pay a cent for the training.

johnny333 · Jul 11, 2011

halsey02 said:
In my time, smoke, drink, f#$@K & smoke ganja!..no kidding, no necessary in that order, plus what you have mentioned, swear, curse , cheat & the ultimate skill, learn how to 'taichi' & skive from real work.

Yes, very useful skills in Spore :smile:

Is it any wonder that NS served to wake up many to the advantages to getting out of Spore. :rolleyes:

Over the years I've seen almost all of my schoolmates leave:(

IR123 · Jul 11, 2011

ginfreely said:
That means not worth for anyone to pay for the $140k course, must get hired as pilot by SIA first and they will train for free, no need to pay a cent for the training.

I knew a guy who was deeply passionate about flying. He paid his own way for the course in Australia without the promise of a job. I hope he is now living his dream.

IR123 · Jul 11, 2011

hmm your tagline: Money can buy security. Security is happiness. needs one extra sentence to close the loop.

Money can buy security. Security is happiness. Happiness is money.

red amoeba · Jul 11, 2011

excellent lah....how many of us can comprehend what the fuck the pilot are saying before take off? Now with Indian pilots, u will confirm not understand what the fuck they saying anymore...most of the time - i only hear - crew prepare for take off...tats all i heard...LOL

SIA, their service is getting from fucked up to si beh fucked up. I was recently on a flight from Hong kong, a 3 hour plus flight and they are struggling with the meal service, rushing to finish it...to extent they completely miss serving u drinks...just pass you the meal and they pushed the cart off...KNN.

Fucking amusing...must be greatly impacted by the loss by Tiger Australia.

SIA recruiting cadet pilots from India, S'poreans shunning this job?

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