Captains fly away from Jat - pilots forced to seek jobs in foreign companies

Turkish Airlines has announced the open competition for employment of 100 pilots and, according to unofficial information, 15% of Jat's captains who fly Boeing airplanes have already applied for the job. Albanian airliner is expected to announce similar open competition already in spring and, according to some announcements, significant number of Jat's captains have expressed interest in working for that company.

– Our wish is that Jat survives – says captain Dragan Divić, the President of SSSPS. – But the facts are merciless and I am afraid that many pilots will leave the company. My salary, with all bonuses, amounts to about 240,000 RSD, while my counterpart in Albania receives 6,500 EUR, Croatian counterpart receives 5,700 EUR, the counterpart in Bulgaria receives 5,500 EUR, and pilots in Bosnia and Herzegovina have monthly salary of 4,500 EUR.

Jat's fleet comprises 16 airplanes (11 Boeing aircrafts and 5 airplanes ATR 72). However, only between 10 and 12 airplanes are in use at the moment. The rest are broken and wait for repairs.

– Old airplane is like old automobile, you never know what can break next. Of course, all of them are safe for flights. None of us is adventurer to fly the plane that is not safe – says captain Divić.

The Trade Union of Pilots is willing to support the Director in the intention to put the company on its feet and reminds that he once said that the pilots and the market were Jat's biggest capital. At the same time, however, the trade union members fear that the state seems quite uninterested.

We have no information of outflow of pilots

- The flying crews of Jat Airways are in the class of the world's best flying staff, which is often admitted to them by their counterparts from other big national airliners. We have not noticed that our pilots are leaving the company to work for some other airliners and we have no information on that. When it comes to captains' salaries, their amount, just like in any other company of the kind, depends on various factorys, including the company's business results – said the people in PR service of Jat Airways.