Finnair to hire 1,300 new pilots and cabin staff in years ahead

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National carrier Finnair intends to hire some 300 new cockpit staff and a thousand extra cabin crew - stewards and stewardesses - in the next few years, in order to satisfy the needs of the company's growing Asian traffic.
      The additional staff will be required by 2015, when the airline expects to have 18 wide-bodied jets in service.
      At present Finnair operates seven wide-bodied MD-11s, but as was reported before the New Year, the company intends to carry out a major addition to its fleet over the coming years. An additional 1,300 employees on the payroll would mean a growth of around a third in the total flight staff.
      According to Finnair SVP, Flight Operations Hannes Bjurström, the company plans to hire around 300 new employees this year, of whom 50 will be foreigners.
      Bjurström puts the need for more staff down to a kind of "reverse China syndrome" with a positive impact.
      "The Finnish population is not growing, and hence we must find growth where it is to be had. We are looking at the Chinese market, where there are currently more millionaires than there are inhabitants in Finland", said Bjurström.
      The company does not intend to increase its overal staff complement, even though the numbers of aircrew are to rise quite substantially. At present Finnair employs 666 pilots and co-pilots and around 1,600 cabin staff.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  New Finnair CEO Jukka Hienonen gets his wings (3.1.2006)
  Finnair to update long-haul fleet with 12 new Airbus jets (8.12.2005)

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