Pilots ‘leaving SriLankan for higher salaries’

COLOMBO: Pilots of state-run SriLankan Airlines are leaving the country as doctors are leaving the country for higher salaries, Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said.

SriLankan Airline does not have extra pilots to put on standby in case pilots assigned for a flight is indisposed, he said.

“They get the training from us, get our flying hours and they leave for higher salaries,” Minister de Silva told parliament.

“They are just like doctors.”

Sri Lanka has seen a spate of specialist doctors leaving the country following an economic crisis triggered by the central bank to printing large volumes of money to artificially keep down a centrally planned interest rate structure..