By akademiotoelektronik, 27/06/2022

Young line pilots, the dream that turned into a nightmare!

We promised them mountains and wonders. They were promised a bright future. Today, a majority of young Tunisian airline pilots are unemployed despite the tens of thousands of dinars paid by their parents, who for some have had to make enormous sacrifices and even take out bank loans to guarantee the future of their children. . An increasingly uncertain future!

Flying has been every child's dream since time immemorial. Growing up, some of them continue to have the desire to practice the profession of airline pilot. Before, you had to go through the Military Academy, but since the 2000s the first private school has emerged. Currently, there are three private schools in addition to the military one in Borj Amri. That said, the young people who embarked on this kind of study and who persevered until obtaining the airline pilot license (ATPL), were sure to have a promising future with a good financial situation. However, this is no longer the case today, despite the cost of training.

To become a pilot in Tunisia, you need about 100,000 dinars, it depends on the schools: between the two years of preparatory training (in the public or private sector), the theoretical training of 9 months and the practical training of more than 200 hours of flight. This amount does not include the uniform, the certificate of medical aptitude issued by the Center of expertise and aeronautical medicine (Cemeda), under the Ministry of Defense, which would cost around 270 dinars as well as the TEA (Test of english for aviation) which must be renewed every 3 or 5 years, depending on the level, for the sum of approximately 300 dinars.

In addition to all this, the pilot's license must be renewed each year for those who have not yet won a work contract for 1,100 dinars (one hour of flight and one hour of simulator) or 1,800 dinars (2 hours of flight and 2 hours of simulator). All these expenses while a job is not guaranteed afterwards.

Indeed, a few days ago, a campaign started on social networks with the hashtag "#pilotebattal" which means "unemployed pilot" and a shocking phrase "a dream that turns into a nightmare", and c This is exactly the case with an unemployment rate in the profession which is around 70%.

To learn more, Business News contacted the Tunisian Association of Young Pilots (ATJP), which told them that 250 young pilots are currently unemployed.

Before 2003, pilots who had their diplomas were directly recruited. But, from 2011, recruitment at Tunisair, the leading employer in the sector, was halted for 6 years, which led to this situation. In 2015, the ATJP was created to alert the authorities to this new situation.

The problem is that the national airline is understaffed, in terms of pilots, with retirements and departures to Gulf countries. She was to launch a competition for the recruitment of about twenty pilots, which had the agreement of the Ministry of Transport and the management, but which is hindered by certain parties. This means that the competition has not been able to take place for a year and a half!

And to ensure the intense air traffic of this summer, exceptional exemptions, granted to pilots who have exceeded their number of flight hours, have become commonplace, affecting to a certain degree the performance of Tunisair with delays due to lack of pilots, among others. Some services are completely provided by two captains instead of a captain and a co-pilot.

It is in this context that the hashtag "#Sayeb_El_Concours" is also launched on social networks and calling for the launch of the Tunisair competition, which will be able to meet part of its pilot needs.

For the founder of one of the airline pilot schools in Tunisia, the profession of airline pilot is a job with a future. He tells us that according to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the need for airline pilots in the world will reach 250,000 to 300,000 people. He explains that aviation is becoming more democratic, that a plane is built in 3 months, while a pilot is trained in 4 years. He specifies that airlines have reduced the number of flight hours for a pilot. They are even prepared to pay for the aircraft type rating for some of their recruits. Also, the companies are now looking to have a firm commitment from the pilots for a few years of work and which can cost in some cases up to 65,000 dollars.

Our interlocutor believes that he has made it possible to realize the dream of several Tunisians with the opening of his school and has saved the State hundreds of thousands of dinars. Before, our airline pilots were sent to the United States for training today, they do it here in Tunisia. In response to one of our questions, he notes that training in Europe would cost between 65,000 and 85,000 euros, in the USA between 90,000 and 120,000 dollars and in Canada between 80,000 and 90,000 Canadian dollars and that certain establishments which will issue the ATPL will specify that this license is not valid in the country of training. He rightly points out that many of the unemployed have not been trained in Tunisia but elsewhere and that in any case in all trades in the world, we always take the best.

Some pilots persevere and are ready to realize their dreams, in particular by paying for a machine qualification on their own or by giving in to certain "pay to flignt" practices. Some airlines require their young recruits to pay to join their rank. Among them, a Tunisian airline transporting goods, which believes that it is paid for the machine qualification.

For its part, the ATJP has met several times with the Minister of Transport to study the solutions that can be put in place for the unemployment of pilots. Among the solutions studied by the commission set up, it is to find a formula allowing young pilots to make hours of flights, in particular on the national company, which will allow them to find work in other airlines.

In the meantime, some pilots have chosen to retrain. This is the case of a pilot, who preferred to remain anonymous, and who decided not to sit idly by. Today, she is the director of a kindergarten. After a year of unemployment, she embarked on new studies that also paid (4,000 dinars). Admittedly, her family was disappointed that she couldn't become a pilot after all the promises she had. But, she says she is fulfilled even if it is a very difficult job but not paid enough.

Myths are shattered and dreams become nightmares. This is what happened to these young pilots and their families who sacrificed everything for some. Today, they are unemployed and have to fight to keep up and find a job.

Imen NOUIRA