Kathmandu, August 8:

Lack of pilots has affected regular flights of the Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) and now it is all set to recruit four pilots who can fly NAC planes after six months, once they complete pilot training courses.

“We had received a hundred applications and have shortlisted 25 whose interviews have been scheduled until Friday,” said Gautam Das Shrestha, managing director of NAC.

Acknowledging that lack of pilots has affected regular flight schedules of the NAC, he said the corporation was negotiating with its former pilots who have shown interest to work with NAC. Capt KB Limbu, president of Nepal Airlines Pilots Association (NAPA), urged the authorities to scrap NAC Act 2019 and form a new committee to draft new regulations.

“Only then the problems facing NAC can be resolved,” he said at a meeting of the Foreign Affairs and Human Rights Committee (FAHRC), Tourism Ministry officials, CAAN, NAC and NAPA here today. MP Bal Bahadur KC coordinated the meeting today.

Expressing concern over the corporation’s outdated 20-year-old 757 Boeings, Limbu said the Boeings are no longer manufactured. The NAC’s aircraft, according to him, can collapse anytime, therefore, the corporation’s “international operation will be stalled if the national carrier’s problems are not resolved on time,” he warned.

Ratish Chandra Lal Suman, chief of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal’s (CAAN) Aviation Safety Department, said CAAN is working towards chalking out new policies to discourage pilots from heading outside the country in search of lucrative jobs. “There is a need to address the problems concerning Nepali pilots leaving the country for high paying jobs,” KC said.

The FAHRC called on the Tourism Ministry, CAAN and NAC to hold extra flights to provide service to passengers during the peak season of Dashain and Tihar. The committee called on the authorities concerned not to charge any extra amount during the festive season.