About 200 pilots unable to get jobs: Minister Ameen

About 200 individuals who studied to become pilots are in the Maldives unable to get jobs in the field, revealed Transport Minister Mohamed Ameen on Monday.

Speaking at a press conference at the President's Office, Minister Ameen said he had previously voiced concerns and worked against opening up too many opportunities for pilot studies.

Ameen went on to say that he has never seen cadet pilots secure jobs from other countries immediately after their trainings. He explained that this is because there are huge backlogs in other countries for their own students as well, due to which laws are put in place against hiring foreigners.

"Every country has a huge backlog of [newly] trained pilots. So some countries have laws that say pilots can't be inducted into any airline operating in the country unless they are a citizen of that country," Ameen said.

The demand for pilots is driven by their job experience, he added. However, freshly trained pilots are cadet pilots, and no airline would be able to operate with just cadet pilots, the minister expained.

Referring to Maldives' statistics, Ameen said more than 200 pilots are still unemployed.

Over the past three years about 500 individuals were given the opportunity to pursue studies to become pilots, he said, alleging the decision was politically motivated by the previous administration

“500 students were given the opportunity to study to become pilots. Event then, there were more than 200 active students,” Ameen said.

At present, two airline companies recruit cadet pilots in Maldives, TMA and Maldivian. However, only a total of 25 jobs are created a year from both companies, he said.

Because of this, it is the responsibility of the government to provide scholarships within the limitations of job availability, he said.

"[It is] very sad. I am also very sad. So we have to expand Maldivian and TMA to increase the intake of these students. But how much solutions can we give?" the minister asked.

Given the circumstances, the government is speaking with students and parents of loan recipients who intended to pursue pilot studies, to change their majors, the minister said. Some students had changed the direction of their studies last year as well, Ameen added.

Some youth who studied to become pilots are working in resorts and other sectors, due to job unavailabilities.

Earlier, Amin told Mihaaru that the next solution is to expand the aviation sector in the country. But it would be a very "slow process," he said.