Aeroflot may increase spending on flight crew to cover shortage
MOSCOW. Dec 21 (Interfax) - Aeroflot may increase spending on pilots to cover the shortage in Russia, Deputy CEO for commerce and finance Shamil Kurmashov said at the airline's Investor and Analyst Day.
"We still have a shortage of pilots on the market; airlines are still competing with each other for them. So the increase [in Aeroflot's spending on flight crew] will be higher than inflation. An exact amount will be determined in the near future, as we are currently analyzing the labor market," he said.
"What the precise level [of spending] will be is difficult to say at the moment. Our HR department is analyzing the market and what steps are needed to cover our pilot shortage," Kurmachov said.
He said that outlays on flight personnel account for up to 10% of Aeroflot's expenditures.
Speaking this summer, Aeroflot chief Vitaly Savelyev said that Russian pilots were leaving for Asia. The salaries at Asian airlines, especially in China, are 1.5-2-fold higher in FX equivalent, Savelyev said. After this, several Russian airlines announced new programs to incentivize pilots.