The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) said airlines transported over 15 million passengers in 2010, representing a year on year rise of 20 percent. Actually, the robust development of the aviation industry is a good sign, but also a challenge as many fields fail to keep up with that growth pace.
One of major existing challenges is weak and insufficient human resources. Currently, airlines in Vietnam are managing 658 pilots, 862 technical staff and nearly 2,000 flight attendants. But, these are not enough to meet the demand and are not commensurate with the market growth. The aircraft fleet expansion gives rise to the development of aviation services (Vietnamese airlines is now managing 90 airplanes, a rise of three from 2004) while human resources for this industry fall short. This forces airlines to hire foreign personnel with pay 2-3 times or even 10 times higher than for domestic ones. Presently, apart from Vietnam Airlines (VNA), other airlines have to employ 90 percent foreign pilots and engineers.
On March 28, 2011, 17 engineers of aircraft maintenance after a course at Jetstar Pacific (JPA) were awarded the Cat B practice licences (Cat B is one of the most important certificates in the supervision of the maintenance and repair of aircrafts). They are the first Vietnamese engineers to maintain aircrafts which were previously undertaken by foreign engineers.
Mr Le Song Lai, General Manager of JPA, said: JPA presently has 22 foreign engineers and three Vietnamese engineers qualified for the Cat B Level. The other 14 Vietnamese engineers, after getting enough experience, will take CRS exams in order to be able to undertake the role of Cat B engineers at the airline in one or two years. By 2014, Jetstar Pacific plans to have Vietnamese engineers account for 50 percent of its staff. They must be capable of undertaking important positions in aircraft maintenance.
The Vietnamese aviation industry also seriously lacks pilots. Airlines have to spend US$30 - 40 million each year to hire foreign pilots. Currently, nearly half of 600 Vietnam Airlines pilots are foreigners. JPA has only three Vietnamese pilots, while Air Mekong has to employ all foreign pilots.
In fact, Vietnamese airlines have to hire costly foreign pilots who are paid from US$5,000 to US$10,000 a month, double the pay for Vietnamese pilots. These figures demonstrate the manpower shortage in the Vietnamese aviation industry.
Mr Le Song Lai said three Vietnamese pilots are working for JPA and the airline expects to bring the number of Vietnamese pilots to 10 by the end of 2011. In late 2010, Vietnam Airlines and Vietnam Flight Training Joint Stock Company signed an agreement to train 60 pilots, a step that proves the determination of building a master aviation industry development strategy of Vietnam.
SGGP
Vietnamese
