INADEH and COPA Airlines Ink $2 Million Dollar Training Deal
With the growth of the aviation industry in Panama, there is a need for a large number of pilots, and faced with this fact, the INADEH and Copa Airlines signed a training agreement worth $2 million dollars. According to the CEO of Copa Airlines, Pedro Heilbron, "due to a lack of financial capacity, young people don't study to become a pilot because the degree costs about $60,000 dollars." "This training program aims to close that gap for young people who have the vocation to be pilots," said Heilbron. (Critica)
Editor's Comment: About a week ago I spoke to a couple of American pilots who had been recruited by Copa Airlines to come down here to fly for them. Copa currently has a significant shortfall of pilots. According to the guys I spoke to, Copa is one of the worst paying airlines and therefore it's hard for then to retain the qualified pilots they already have. As soon as young new pilots get certified, once they have some experience, they take off (har) for greener pastures and higher salaries in other countries. So now Copa is being forced to recruit pilots from other countries like the United States.
