By Parker Tambua
Air Niugini has lost five pilots to Qantas and Jet Star in Australia as well as avionics engineers to Australia and New Zealand just last month.
Chief Executive Officer Gary Seddon said this during a recent event that higher salaries and permanent residence in Australia and New Zealand is causing real headache for the airline.
“That is a real problem for us (Air Niugini),” Mr. Seddon said.
“Just last month, we lost five pilots to Quantas and Jet Star in Australia, I’ve lost avionics engineers to Air New Zealand and also a licensed aircraft engineer to Quantas in Perth.
“Talent retention remains a challenge and we must ensure that Papua New Guinea’s best pilots, best engineers and our cabin-crew stay with us despite the pull of higher salaries and permanent residency opportunities in Australia and New Zealand.” Seddon said.
He said the airline has some of the international best standard engineers and pilots who are on the market.
“Despite these challenges, we are focused on securing the future of Air Niugini, not just as an airline but as a national asset that will drive economic growth and connectivity across Papua New Guinea and beyond,” Seddon said.
Meanwhile the CEO said the airline is confident that the re-fleet program with arrival of new aircrafts such as Air Bus A220 and Boeing 787 would encourage more revenue and quality service starting this year.
