pirating pilots

a lot of news has been going around regarding the pirating of pilots from here to other airlines abroad. of course, less has been mentioned about the initial pirating commercial airlines do to the air force. though one can argue that there aren't that many military planes to fly around with anyway, the point is the commercial airlines is benefitting from the government training given to these pilots. now boohoohoo, they're crying foul and want to restrict their own pilots' movement.

it's the same case with all other professions in the country, especially the nurse phenomenon. this exodus has been going on for ages, with teachers going to houston because of the shortage of english-speaking teachers, to accountants (also) going to the states because of the sudden increase in demand for them due to the post-enron sabarnes-oxley environment.

but if you listen to the pilots (and the nurses, the teachers, and the accountants), when asked what would make them stay, they only want a decent wage and a decent career growth path. they know companies here can't meet eye-to-eye the wages abroad (even if we have an improving exchange rate). but at the very least, give the professionals a decent chance to earn and grow that relies more on competence and less on patronage.