Russian airlines are seriously concerned about the leakage of flight personnel to Asia: according to Kommersant's information, over the past 2.5 years, more than 300 aircraft commanders (FACs) and instructors (about 100 of them to China) have left for work there, and another 400 people have gone to work there. the employment process. The main reason for both the industry and the Ministry of Transport is the high gap in wages against the backdrop of a weak ruble. The outflow of personnel began to affect the market: the Kommersant source names the shortage of pilots as one of the reasons for the scandalous reduction in the VIM-Avia flight program. It is possible that in order to solve the problem, Russian airlines may again request an extension of the quota for hiring foreign pilots.
Russian airlines are worried about staff drain to Asia, in particular China and Korea, industry sources told Kommersant. According to them, over the past 2.5 years, more than 300 "the most trained pilots with excellent knowledge of English" - PIC and PIC instructors have left for the region. About 400 more pilots of these categories are "in the process of paperwork." According to Kommersant's information, the leak affected, in particular, S7, Ural Airlines, Volga-Dnepr and VIM-Avia.
The interlocutor of Kommersant notes that 12 PACs leaving VIM-Avia at once could become one of the reasons for large-scale failures of the flight program (see Kommersant on June 8 about it). The airline confirmed to Kommersant that some of the pilots went to work in China, India and Vietnam. The main reason for the outflow, according to VIM-Avia, is "of an economic nature": in Asian countries, the state has created conditions conducive to attracting foreign flight personnel. There are no restrictions and quotas for foreign pilots, a loyal flight personnel validation system, and recruiting agencies select personnel in the Russian Federation and other countries.
In 2016, there were 50.5 thousand pilots in China, of which 25.2 thousand were commercial (over the year their number increased by 2.3 thousand people). According to Boeing, over the next 20 years, Chinese airlines will employ 5.5 thousand pilots a year - 111 thousand people by 2035. In 2016, there were 59 airlines and 218 airports in the country, their traffic increased by 12%, to 488 million passengers, and more than 1 billion people passed through the airports of the PRC.
Since 2011, Russian airlines have also fought for the right to hire foreign pilots due to a shortage of pilots, and in 2014 the government allocated them a quota of up to 200 foreigners per year. But this coincided with a decline in passenger traffic (in 2015 - by 1.2%, in 2016 - by 3.8%) and a weakening of the ruble, the demand for work in the Russian Federation fell. Aeroflot has 21 foreign pilots (18 people from the Czech Republic), the company's quota is 80 people.
$ 17-25 thousand per month able to pay qualified foreign pilots Chinese airlines
A Kommersant source in one of the foreign recruiting agencies looking for pilots for the PRC agrees that the influx of pilots from the Russian Federation coincided with a drop in passenger traffic and the termination of Transaero flights (autumn 2015), when more than 10 thousand people were fired from the company. According to him, the salary of a pilot in China is on average four times higher than in the Russian Federation - from $ 17-25 thousand per month. Work schedule - 80 flight hours per month (in the Russian Federation - 90), at least 96 days of vacation (in Russia - 70 days). Since 2016, China has simplified the issuance of work permits to pilots, which "only stimulates the arrival of flight personnel from Russia," says a Kommersant source. Ten Chinese airlines are showing interest in the Russians, the main demand is for PICs with over 2,500 hours of flight time. Now in the PRC there are about 100 Russian PACs and instructors, and the same number are preparing for employment.
Aeroflot CEO Vitaly Savelyev on the sidelines of SPIEF-2017 said that the company has a shortage of Russian PICs and confirmed that "pilots are leaving in a crowd to Asia and China, where salaries are 1.5-2 times higher."
The airline has already increased salaries five times, but "no longer sees opportunities for its growth," since the co-pilot receives 320-350 thousand rubles. per month, FAC - 470 thousand rubles, and the instructor - more than 500 thousand rubles. Aeroflot has requested a new quota for 40 foreign pilots. According to Kommersant's information, the salary of Ural Airlines flight personnel has increased by 20% (they declined to comment). In S7, Kommersant confirmed the existence of a problem, but "so far only in isolated cases." Volga-Dnepr did not respond to Kommersant's request.
VIM-Avia emphasizes that foreign companies do not bear the costs of training pilots, do not have obligations for their pension and social security at the end of the contract, therefore they offer more favorable terms of remuneration. The staff drain harms not only carriers, but also the economy of the Russian Federation as a whole, the company believes, since most of those leaving were educated at the state expense, and when working abroad under short-term contracts, they do not pay contributions to the Pension and other funds. The problem of staff drain should be raised from the industry level to the state level, say VIM-Avia.
In the Ministry of Transport, Kommersant confirmed the trend of personnel drain, but assured that "the problem is of a much smaller scale." They agree that the outflow was caused "primarily by exchange rate differences." Proposals to prevent the departure of pilots are being discussed with the Air Operators Association and will soon be "presented for public comment." S7 added that they plan to discuss options for solving the problem with industry participants. So far, according to a Kommersant source, the Russian aviation authorities are only formally making it difficult for pilots to access work abroad - for example, by refusing to confirm a pilot's license to foreign companies or provide other documents, citing the law on the protection of personal data.
Aviaport executive director Oleg Panteleev says that with the opening of markets it is necessary to come to terms with the outflow of personnel or start actually raising salaries. The expert did not rule out that in order to cover the shortage of personnel, a decision may be made to expand quotas for hiring foreign PICs.
Elizaveta Kuznetsova
Russian airlines are seriously concerned about the leakage of flight personnel to Asia: according to Kommersant's information, over the past 2.5 years, more than 300 aircraft commanders (FACs) and instructors (about 100 of them to China) have left for work there, and another 400 people have gone to work there. the employment process. The main reason for both the industry and the Ministry of Transport is the high gap in wages against the backdrop of a weak ruble. The outflow of personnel began to affect the market: the Kommersant source names the shortage of pilots as one of the reasons for the scandalous reduction in the VIM-Avia flight program. It is possible that in order to solve the problem, Russian airlines may again request an extension of the quota for hiring foreign pilots.
Russian airlines are worried about staff drain to Asia, in particular China and Korea, industry sources told Kommersant. According to them, over the past 2.5 years, more than 300 "the most trained pilots with excellent knowledge of English" - PIC and PIC instructors have left for the region. About 400 more pilots of these categories are "in the process of paperwork." According to Kommersant's information, the leak affected, in particular, S7, Ural Airlines, Volga-Dnepr and VIM-Avia.
The interlocutor of Kommersant notes that 12 PACs leaving VIM-Avia at once could become one of the reasons for large-scale failures of the flight program (see Kommersant on June 8 about it). The airline confirmed to Kommersant that some of the pilots went to work in China, India and Vietnam. The main reason for the outflow, according to VIM-Avia, is "of an economic nature": in Asian countries, the state has created conditions conducive to attracting foreign flight personnel. There are no restrictions and quotas for foreign pilots, a loyal flight personnel validation system, and recruiting agencies select personnel in the Russian Federation and other countries.
In 2016, there were 50.5 thousand pilots in China, of which 25.2 thousand were commercial (over the year their number increased by 2.3 thousand people). According to Boeing, over the next 20 years, Chinese airlines will employ 5.5 thousand pilots a year - 111 thousand people by 2035. In 2016, there were 59 airlines and 218 airports in the country, their traffic increased by 12%, to 488 million passengers, and more than 1 billion people passed through the airports of the PRC.
Since 2011, Russian airlines have also fought for the right to hire foreign pilots due to a shortage of pilots, and in 2014 the government allocated them a quota of up to 200 foreigners per year. But this coincided with a decline in passenger traffic (in 2015 - by 1.2%, in 2016 - by 3.8%) and a weakening of the ruble, the demand for work in the Russian Federation fell. Aeroflot has 21 foreign pilots (18 people from the Czech Republic), the company's quota is 80 people.
A Kommersant source in one of the foreign recruiting agencies looking for pilots for the PRC agrees that the influx of pilots from the Russian Federation coincided with a drop in passenger traffic and the termination of Transaero flights (autumn 2015), when more than 10 thousand people were fired from the company. According to him, the salary of a pilot in China is on average four times higher than in the Russian Federation - from $ 17-25 thousand per month. Work schedule - 80 flight hours per month (in the Russian Federation - 90), at least 96 days of vacation (in Russia - 70 days). Since 2016, China has simplified the issuance of work permits to pilots, which "only stimulates the arrival of flight personnel from Russia," says a Kommersant source. Ten Chinese airlines are showing interest in the Russians, the main demand is for PICs with over 2,500 hours of flight time. Now in the PRC there are about 100 Russian PACs and instructors, and the same number are preparing for employment.
Aeroflot CEO Vitaly Savelyev on the sidelines of SPIEF-2017 said that the company has a shortage of Russian PICs and confirmed that "pilots are leaving in a crowd to Asia and China, where salaries are 1.5-2 times higher."
The airline has already increased salaries five times, but "no longer sees opportunities for its growth," since the co-pilot receives 320-350 thousand rubles. per month, FAC - 470 thousand rubles, and the instructor - more than 500 thousand rubles. Aeroflot has requested a new quota for 40 foreign pilots. According to Kommersant's information, the salary of Ural Airlines flight personnel has increased by 20% (they declined to comment). In S7, Kommersant confirmed the existence of a problem, but "so far only in isolated cases." Volga-Dnepr did not respond to Kommersant's request.
VIM-Avia emphasizes that foreign companies do not bear the costs of training pilots, do not have obligations for their pension and social security at the end of the contract, therefore they offer more favorable terms of remuneration. The staff drain harms not only carriers, but also the economy of the Russian Federation as a whole, the company believes, since most of those leaving were educated at the state expense, and when working abroad under short-term contracts, they do not pay contributions to the Pension and other funds. The problem of staff drain should be raised from the industry level to the state level, say VIM-Avia.
In the Ministry of Transport, Kommersant confirmed the trend of personnel drain, but assured that "the problem is of a much smaller scale." They agree that the outflow was caused "primarily by exchange rate differences." Proposals to prevent the departure of pilots are being discussed with the Air Operators Association and will soon be "presented for public comment." S7 added that they plan to discuss options for solving the problem with industry participants. So far, according to a Kommersant source, the Russian aviation authorities are only formally making it difficult for pilots to access work abroad - for example, by refusing to confirm a pilot's license to foreign companies or provide other documents, citing the law on the protection of personal data.
Aviaport executive director Oleg Panteleev says that with the opening of markets it is necessary to come to terms with the outflow of personnel or start actually raising salaries. The expert did not rule out that in order to cover the shortage of personnel, a decision may be made to expand quotas for hiring foreign PICs.
Well, well, well. On June 9, a ridiculous stuffing appeared in the Russian segment of the Entornet that, allegedly, qualified Russian pilots and even (scary to say) aircraft commanders (FAC) massively leave Great Russia with Crimea for Beautiful China! We can talk about several hundred people! They say that conditions are better there and salaries are higher, so in recent years almost 300 "the most trained pilots with excellent knowledge of English" - PIC and PIC instructors have left for Asia!
Even the general director of Aeroflot, Savelyev, confirmed that yes, they say, the problem is very serious, “pilots are leaving in a crowd for Asia and China, where salaries are 1.5-2 times higher.” Isn't it horror? To check the information, I talked to the Russian pilot Alexander, who recently left for China. He confirmed that we are talking about "hundreds" of pilots and PICs who moved from Russia to Asia. This is what he told me.
Alexander worked at Kogalymavia. After the terrorist attack on October 31, 2015, which killed 224 people (this attack led to the suspension of flights between Russia and Egypt), the company stopped flying. Employees, including highly qualified pilots, were kept in limbo for almost six months, promising that flights were about to resume. At the same time, salaries were not paid, and then in March 2016 the company was simply declared bankrupt, and the debts to the staff were never paid. Comfortable!
Almost simultaneously with this - in October 2015 - Transaero ceased operations. Some of the airline's pilots, of course, were able to get a job in other companies, but many pilots remained unemployed.
No one needed people, and working abroad was the only chance for many to feed their families.
And then Great and Beautiful China was close at hand! China is generally a new, very large-scale air transportation market. According to the Civil Aviation Administration of the PRC, the country has 218 airports, almost 3800 routes, and last year 488 million people used Chinese airlines, it's as if every citizen of Russia, without exception, flew somewhere at least 3.5 times in a year!
The most important thing is that in China for foreign pilots there are more favorable and favorable working conditions: salaries, according to Alexander, in China for expat pilots depend on the number of vacation days per year (the less vacation, the higher the salary), but even if the duration of the vacation is the duration of the working period, the salary is still at least 1.5 times higher than in Russia! In addition, there are all sorts of additional goodies, such as paying for an apartment, air tickets to family members, all sorts of nice bonuses, as well as new planes and well-equipped airports!
What airports are in China, mmmm, this is a song,. The main thing is that they are big!
Of course, China, as elsewhere, has its own specifics: for example, there is a very strict selection for medical indicators, much stricter than in Russia. In addition, the Chinese pilots have a very busy schedule: they usually only have 1 month of vacation a year (of course, there are weekends, but they are not very frequent). As a result, the co-pilot in China has even more flying hours than the PIC in Russia.
In addition, you still need to get used to the English language of the Chinese - "Chinglish", and the whole flight plan is thrown off in hieroglyphs, so Alexander went on his first flight to China without knowing where he was flying :) Then he figured it out, of course.
Alexander says that the Chinese, despite common stereotypes, are very pedantic and follow the instructions thoroughly (in this they are helped by fines for violations of instructions, which reach up to 5 thousand dollars!). True, it also happens that, due to strict adherence to instructions, they hardly cope with emergency situations, to put it simply, they are “stupid”, but we have already figured it out a long time ago;) But in general, the Chinese are good-natured and benevolent people, although they tolerate they cannot, when they are scolded, even for the cause (they are offended and can secretly defile in return).
By the way, according to Alexander, Chinese pilots smoke like steam locomotives during the flight! Interesting.
Alexander does not regret at all that he moved to work in China. He says that pilots would never have received such conditions in Russia. And if he had not been able to leave for China, he would have left for Iran or Vietnam. So it goes ((
But, thank God, China is a strategic partner and friend of Russia, so at the end of May, the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency Neradko met with the head of the PRC Civil Aviation Administration Feng Zhenglin, and then, by coincidence, China stopped hiring candidates with the Russian ATPL pilot license! That's what real friends are!
Russian pilots are leaving for Asia en masse. Since the beginning of the crisis, Asian carriers, according to Kommersant, have recruited more than 300 aircraft commanders from Aeroflot and other companies.
In Russia, the maximum salary for a highly qualified pilot does not reach $ 6,000, and in China, which is now experiencing a boom in air travel, he will be offered at least twice as much.
In total, according to the Federal Air Transport Agency, there are 11,600 pilots in Russia. The loss of several hundred specialists is already affecting the business of Russian carriers, but then they will have to get even harder. Companies fear the fugitives will set off a chain reaction.
Secret discussed the situation with a former Aeroflot pilot who is pursuing a career in Vietnam, the head of the largest flight crew union and an independent expert.
Vladimir Cherednichenko
Aircraft Commander at Vietnam Airlines
When I got a job as a co-pilot at Aeroflot in 2010, the salaries were at the same level. For example, I received more than 150,000 rubles a month. The company gave me the opportunity to grow, in two years I went through all the stages of training and became an aircraft commander. The salary increased by 40%, but they had to work a lot: by the set 80 hours a month, all the PICs took 10 more overtime. 90 hours per month is the maximum allowed load. I left the company in 2016. I decided because the economic situation in the country has changed. I had to more and more infringe on my needs. In addition, I wanted to develop. What attracted me to Vietnam Airlines was the interesting route network (China, Myanmar, Cambodia, Singapore) and the fact that the airline flies on the most modern aircraft - Airbus A350. The salary is decent. Pilots have always left Russia - for example, to Europe or to Arab countries. Now the main direction is Asia. The massive outflow began in 2015, when the Transaero company went bankrupt. People were left without work in one day, and there were no vacancies for them in Russia. The pilot cannot wait - the qualification is lost. The guys came and realized that they were quoted on the world market. Other pilots followed. Everyone goes with a specific purpose - to save up for an apartment, to secure a pension, to pay for the education of children-students. Chinese airlines recruit the most foreign pilots, and they offer the highest salaries. I am already completing my contract in Vietnam and am going to move just to China. In other Asian countries, they pay about the same - at least $ 10,000 per month. At the same time, locals are paid two times less than expats. Contracts in Asia are generally more comfortable than in Russia. The payment here is not piece-rate, as in Aeroflot and other Russian companies, but is fixed. At the same time, if a person flies more than 80 hours a month, this is considered a very serious overwork, and he is decently paid extra. Another plus is that in Asia, medium-haul aircraft fly mainly during the day. If you still have to fly at night, with a probability of 99% we will be three: two commanders and one co-pilot. Divide the flight time among ourselves, and everyone will have enough time to rest.
Igor Delduzhov
President of the Sheremetyevo trade union of flight personnel
Aeroflot and its subsidiaries have lost about 140 pilots. Is it a lot or a little? According to our data, Aeroflot has about 2,500 pilots in total. The airline is constantly opening new directions and increasing its aircraft fleet. Of course, the deficit is taking its toll. This is evidenced by the busy work schedule, and the numerous illegal (without the consent of the employees) transfers of vacations from the summer period to the autumn-winter period. The pilot's profession is still one of the three highest paid in Russia, but salaries in our airlines are lower than in foreign ones. The second pilot now receives up to 200,000 rubles a month, the average salary of a PIC is about 350,000. In China, the salary of a PIC can reach $ 25,000, in South Korea or Vietnam - $ 12,000. opportunities go to places where their labor costs many times more. Now Aeroflot is frantically trying to solve the problem, acting both with a whip (the fugitives [were threatened] (http://www.rbc.ru/business/26/06/2017/5950e1859a794704d05371d1) that they will not be accepted back) and with a carrot ( the new FAC is promised one-time payments in the amount of 650,000 rubles). But these measures will not solve the problem. It is necessary at least to carry out an indexation of salaries (not only salaries, but also components) of all employees. In recent years, the company has been saving on this.
Oleg Panteleev
Executive Director of the Aviaport agency
Despite the deteriorating macroeconomic situation, carriers built up their fleets and started wage wars. But at the same time, in order to load the park, they resorted to dumping. Someone inevitably leaves the race, and the staff is overboard. This allows you to solve the problem of the shortage of flight personnel for the remaining players. Alas, as long as the market is subject to sharp fluctuations, the personnel policy of airlines will be simple: if there is a deficit - you have to pay more, there is no deficit - you don't have to raise salaries. Now the industry is experiencing a staff shortage. It will not be possible to compensate for the shortage of PICs, co-pilots and instructors by increasing the release of pilots from flight schools. Artificially limiting churn due to the introduction of administrative barriers may work for some time, but then airlines will inevitably either enter a salary race or have to abandon development. We saw this situation at the beginning of the decade. Any employer tries to use a carrot and a stick. Those who get a job at Aeroflot for the first time or after a break of more than three years are offered quite decent one-time lifting allowances. Those who want to try their luck on the side have the opportunity to weigh all the pros and cons: win here and now, or stay in the company in the hope of better times.
Cover photo: Pascal Rossignol / Reuters
For 2.5 years, more than 300 pilots of Russian airlines went to work abroad, about 400 are now "in the process of paperwork," writes the Kommersant newspaper, citing industry sources.
According to the newspaper, the most trained pilots with excellent knowledge of English - aircraft commanders (PIC) and instructors - are subject to staff drain. It affected, in particular, S7, Ural Airlines, Volga-Dnepr and VIM-Avia.
Russian pilots find work mainly in Asian countries - China, Korea and Vietnam. Salaries are higher there due to the weakening of the ruble.
The newspaper's source says that so far the Russian aviation authorities are only formally making it difficult for pilots to access work abroad. For example, they refuse to confirm a pilot's license to foreign companies or provide other documents, citing the law on the protection of personal data.
One of the sources of the publication does not exclude that disruptions in the flight schedule of VIM-Avia could have happened, among other things, due to the departure of 12 pilots at the same time. The influx of Russian pilots to China coincided with a drop in passenger traffic and the shutdown of Transaero, said another source at a foreign recruiting agency that is recruiting pilots for the PRC.
In China, a pilot's salary is, on average, four times higher than in Russia - $ 17,000 - $ 25,000 per month, 80 hours must be flown a month versus 90 in Russia, vacation starts at 96 days (70 in Russia), this source says. Since last year, China has simplified the issuance of work permits to pilots, which "only encourages the arrival of flight personnel from Russia."
10 Chinese air carriers want to hire Russian pilots, they are mainly interested in PICs with more than 2500 hours of flight time. About 100 Russian pilots and instructors are now flying in China, and the same number are preparing to go there to work, the newspaper writes.
VIM-Avia has confirmed the departure of some pilots who are now flying in China, India or Vietnam, where conditions have been created to attract foreign pilots. They are not limited by quotas, the validation system is loyal and local recruiting agencies are looking for pilots in Russia and other countries, the company said.
At SPIEF-2017, Aeroflot CEO Vitaly Savelyev said that the company lacks Russian PICs and that "pilots are leaving in a crowd for Asia and China, where salaries are 1.5-2 times higher." Aeroflot itself, according to him, can no longer raise wages. The airline employs 21 foreign pilots with a quota of 80 people, a new quota for 40 foreign pilots has been requested.
According to sources of the publication, the salary of the flight personnel of Ural Airlines has increased by 20%, but the company does not comment on these data. S7 confirmed the existence of difficulties, but "so far only in isolated cases", and said that they plan to discuss the problem with other industry participants. Volga-Dnepr did not respond to the publication's request.
The Ministry of Transport confirmed the trend of staff drain, noting that the scale of the problem is not so great, and attributed the outflow "primarily to the exchange rate difference." Proposals to prevent the departure of pilots are being discussed with the Air Operators Association and will soon be "presented for public comment."
