OSAKA -- Peach Aviation plans to restore service this winter to where it was before the Japanese budget carrier was forced to slash flights amid a pilot shortage.
The carrier canceled more than 2,000 flights from May to October because it did not have enough plane captains. Its operations plan for the five-month period starting Oct. 26 lays out a roughly 10% increase in flights.
The airline explained that a large number of captains that have been off work due to illness have come back. In addition, "we have hired non-Japanese captains and persuaded those at other domestic companies to come work for us," said a senior Peach official.
Since pilots often live in greater Tokyo, where many airlines are based, Peach is at a disadvantage when it comes to recruitment because its base is Kansai Airport near Osaka. Peach apparently found success hiring pilots by offering better benefits than before, such as allowing pilots to commute using Peach flights.
Peach resumed service on about 50 flights since around September, and it expects to fly an average of 2,027 flights a month in November and afterward. The airline believes that it will be able to secure even more captains in December and January. In the end, Peach will likely bring back all of the flights it cut over the summer.
However, pilots are in short supply generally worldwide, and the problem is expected to remain serious. In the Asia-Pacific region, where demand for air travel is growing rapidly, the number of pilots needed in 2030 will climb to 4.5 times the 2010 figure, according to some estimates.
Peach intends to hire graduates of pilot training courses at private universities. Rival Vanilla Air, which canceled about 150 flights in June, has launched a captain training program for first officers, and several pilots are expected to receive captain qualifications next month. Vanilla is also increasing flights.
The scramble for pilots is sure to intensify as Asia's largest budget carrier, Malaysia-based AirAsia, resumes domestic flights in Japan next summer. While low-cost carriers have presented consumers the option of cheap flights, they still face many issues before they can provide stable operations.
The carrier canceled more than 2,000 flights from May to October because it did not have enough plane captains. Its operations plan for the five-month period starting Oct. 26 lays out a roughly 10% increase in flights.
The airline explained that a large number of captains that have been off work due to illness have come back. In addition, "we have hired non-Japanese captains and persuaded those at other domestic companies to come work for us," said a senior Peach official.
Since pilots often live in greater Tokyo, where many airlines are based, Peach is at a disadvantage when it comes to recruitment because its base is Kansai Airport near Osaka. Peach apparently found success hiring pilots by offering better benefits than before, such as allowing pilots to commute using Peach flights.
Peach resumed service on about 50 flights since around September, and it expects to fly an average of 2,027 flights a month in November and afterward. The airline believes that it will be able to secure even more captains in December and January. In the end, Peach will likely bring back all of the flights it cut over the summer.
However, pilots are in short supply generally worldwide, and the problem is expected to remain serious. In the Asia-Pacific region, where demand for air travel is growing rapidly, the number of pilots needed in 2030 will climb to 4.5 times the 2010 figure, according to some estimates.
Peach intends to hire graduates of pilot training courses at private universities. Rival Vanilla Air, which canceled about 150 flights in June, has launched a captain training program for first officers, and several pilots are expected to receive captain qualifications next month. Vanilla is also increasing flights.
The scramble for pilots is sure to intensify as Asia's largest budget carrier, Malaysia-based AirAsia, resumes domestic flights in Japan next summer. While low-cost carriers have presented consumers the option of cheap flights, they still face many issues before they can provide stable operations.
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