Higher pilot retirement age urged
The National Legislative Assembly transport committee has proposed that the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) ask the relevant state agencies to revise rules to raise the retirement age of pilots to 65 years as part of the effort to solve the shortage of pilots.
The suggestion derived from the committee’s study on the production of aviation personnel in Thailand, and it was presented to the NLA yesterday by the subcommittee on aviation transport.
The state sector should also provide incentives to airlines and private aviation institutes to encourage them to support the purchase of equipment and teaching tools and textbooks for students in aviation courses, the panel said. The government should encourage all aviation students, except those in pilot courses, to be trained in aviation companies before graduate.
The committee also suggested that the government develop the CAAT as the regional aviation training centre.
According to the study, Thailand’s aviation and tourism sectors have experienced strong growth as well as a boom in the low-cost-airline and charter-flight businesses. However, the country has suffered from a shortage of aviation personnel, especially pilots and mechanics, which has affected the aviation industry.
It also found that the country lacked a sufficient number of experienced pilots and flying trainers.
