Nepal Airlines Corporations (NAC) is facing difficulty in its plan to recruit foreign pilots. NAC has recently bought a wide-body A330 series aircraft from Airbus and next aircraft of same series is in process to arrive in coming month. However, there are only few Nepali pilots who can fly such aircraft and the only option for the corporation is to recruit foreign pilot.
High level officer of NAC stated that there is no other option than recruiting foreign pilot but the procedure for it is very difficult. According to him, while recruiting foreign pilot, they have to go through 40 bodies of around dozen of government organization. Delay in hiring process caused by such long procedure even irritates the pilot.
Corporation currently operates with a Boeing 757, 2 Airbus 320 and after operation of 2 new A330s it will have 5 aircraft to operate for international flight which will require 30 pilots in a set.
The corporation is hiring pilots to operate new Airbus aircraft and after sometime Nepali pilots will operate the aircraft after allowing foreign pilots to fly for some time. In the past, foreign pilots operated the A320 for about a year and half and afterwards Nepali pilots are operating the aircraft.
Sugat Ratna Kansakar, Managing Director of the corporation expressed that high level peoples and ministers take briefing about the condition and rather than simplifying the process, they direct to operate the airlines properly. He also suggested that, to develop and easily run the country, all the rules and regulations should be rewritten and simplified.
