The local aviation industry is facing a total collapse with folded wings in the light of continued exodus of Filipino pilots, mechanics and other skilled aircraft mechanics to foreign countries seeking greener pastures, a Mindanao solon said.
Zamboanga del Norte Rep. Roseller Barinaga, chairs the House committee on labor and employment, was alarmed on the outflow of skilled workers in the aviation industry which offered better salaries and benefits from foreign employers.
If left unchecked, this invasion will cripple not only our aviation industry, but also topple the pillar of the national economy, Barinaga said.
According to Barinaga, several developed countries are in short supply of skilled aviation personnel and now targeting the expertise of Filipino aviation industry workers.
He said aviation is very critical to a nation commerce, tourism and movement of its people.
In the past five years, Barinaga noticed that the poaching of Filipino commercial pilots and other aircraft skilled workers has been a cottage industry.
These agencies serve the interest of their overseas principals and focus their sights on our technical manpower, particularly on pilots and mechanics, Barinaga said.
He said there is one agency that specializes on recruiting workers for maintenance, repair and overhaul organizations (MROs) in Singapore and another establishment serving the interest of its principals in Taiwan, Saipan and the Middle East.
In his speech, the lawmaker said foreign recruiters, assisted by their local counterparts, maintain offices in plush hotels in Metro Manila, surreptitiously enticing our mission-critical skilled workers for outright hiring.
Citing statistics from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), the solon said at least 1,159 aircraft mechanics and technicians have sought foreign employment between 2000 and 2005,
The figure does not include those who were directly hired by foreign employers, he said, adding that one unnamed airline company has already lost 140 pilots.
Barinaga said the numbers will continue to increase, resulting in a looming crisis in the local aviation industry.
According to the congressman, the POEA has pending job orders of 767 aircraft mechanics from Singapore and 73 others from Saudi Arabia.
Singapore also needs 50 junior mechanics while China will need at least 10,000 pilots in the next 10 years and India, 3,500 pilots in the next five years, he said.
Hong Kong and Qatar are likewise in need of an unspecified number of airline workers, he said.
Aside from pilots and mechanics, Barinaga said the POEA has also received orders for aircraft painters and ticketing, reservation and airport representatives.
The congressman said the continuing departure of Filipino aircraft workers for foreign countries will be difficult to stop because foreign employers, who are heavily subsidized by their governments, can
offer double, or even triple the wage packages being given by local employers.
He said many foreign countries continue to replenish their aircraft fleet, offering training for new personnel to man their aircraft.
Barinaga said the distressing situation is aggravated by the present capacity of local aviation schools to train future aircraft personnel.
The present situation is already alarming, the lawmaker said, noting that presently, there are only 700 commercial pilots employed by local aviation industry as revealed by the Air Transportation Office.
In his speech, Barinaga urged the Departments of Foreign Affairs and of Labor and Employment to study the imposition of a moratorium on the deployment of skilled labor in mission-critical industries, including aviation.
