Belgian airlines complain of pilot poaching

Brussels: Belgian airline members of the Belgian Air Transport Associaton (BATA), such as Brussels Airlines, VLM Airlines and others are complaining about a chronic shortage of pilots.

According to these airlines, ten per cent of their pilots are leaving each year to join companies such as Irish low cost carrier Ryanair and Netjets, a Portuguese airline.

Reportedly, Indian full service provider, Jet Airways, is all set to hire 150 pilots abroad, mainly in Belgium.

BATA members say that all these airlines are offering higher salaries and more favourable tax rates than their Belgian counterparts. For BATA members the trouble is compounded by the fact that Ryanair already has a base in Charleroi, even as Jet Airways has announced its intention to build its European hub in Zaventem. NetJets, in turn, is flying into Brussels.