Turkish Airlines will train 1,000 pilots every year

Turkey lacks pilots and the situation has been getting worse. The number of airplanes has been rising but not the number of pilots. Thus, Turkish Airlines is launching a project to train 1,000 pilots each year. 

It is estimated that Turkish Airlines will have some 500 airplanes in its fleet in 2023.

With the orders already placed, at least 230 airplanes will join the airline’s fleet until 2023. A number of measures have also been taken to manage the process that will help narrow the deficiency in the number of pilots.

As part of the project, Turkish Airlines will hold talks with all schools that provide aviation education. Turkish Airlines will take part in the process to select prospective students who will receive flight training and be offered a job.

Also, one or several prominent schools abroad that provide pilot training will be offered partnership. Students who will be sent to those schools abroad for training will have a higher chance of finding a secure job.

More importantly, Turkish Airlines’ Flight Academy will grow larger by recruiting more local and international instructors.

Twelve to 14 month special programs currently used by British Airways and Lufthansa will be adopted that will help to train a large number of pilots each year. Intense, e-learning-based training programs as well as intense use of simulators will ensure fast and high standards in pilot training.

Turkish Airlines is also working on plans to employ experienced retired pilots as instructors. All simulator instructors will be retired and experienced pilots.

Special offer for foreign pilots 

Turkish Airlines also targets to resolve the problems of some 500 foreign pilots employed by the airline. Abdülkerim Çay, deputy general manager in charge of human resources, is having special packages prepared for foreign pilots who will join Turkish Airline’s fleet.

Foreign pilots who will work for Turkish Airlines will receive those packages as soon as they arrive in Turkey. As part of the package, pilots will be accommodated in high standard hotels near the airport in the first 15 days upon their arrival. Pilots will also receive mobile phones.

All international documents, including airport clearance and ID cards will already be ready when foreign pilots arrive. The package that has been prepared upon the request of İlker Aycı, chairman of Turkish Airlines’ board, has been taking care of the complaints of foreign pilots. This will help foreign pilots a lot. The number of foreign pilots in Turkish Airlines will never be less than 10 percent of total pilots.

Internet on narrow-body aircrafts 

Turkish Airlines is now joining Pegasus Airlines in making internet available on planes.

In the near future, we will be able to have internet on the single-aisle, medium-haul aircrafts. Turkish Airlines has completed the initial preparations. It means that the internet will be offered on the planes that fly between Istanbul and Ankara and to European countries.

The internet installment on the planes will take some time. In order to prevent any delays, the installment of the internet will be made during the maintenance work of narrow-body aircrafts. Pegasus Airlines has made its plans in a way to launch the service early next year. Pegasus plans to show it in the coming days. SunExpress, a joint venture between Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa, will follow suit. SunExpress has been offering internet on all planes after the New Year. It is said that the internet service on the planes will be very fast but no airlines, including Turkish Airlines, has decided about the price of the internet service.