Garuda Indonesia to reduce foreign pilots

National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia committed to reducing the number of foreign pilots by 2012 and would consider new policies regarding their short-term contracts.

Garuda vice president Suhasril Samad said that as of September 2011 Garuda had only 34 foreign pilots, including three pilot captains.

“There will be new contracts in February 2012, so there will only be five foreign pilots left employed [under the old contracts],” Samad said on Monday as quoted by tribunnews.com.

Samad said Garuda would negotiate new contracts with its foreign pilots, but they would work and be treated the same as local pilots who also work under a contract based system.

“We will renegotiate their contracts at the end of October, or early November at the latest,” he said.

The Garuda Pilots Association (APG) previously launched a strike on July 28 over dissatisfaction with company management policies that allegedly demonstrated unequal treatment between foreign and local pilots. The strike caused at least 14 delayed flights from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.