59 foreign pilots resign from Turkish Airlines in eight months

ISTANBUL - Doğan News Agency

DHA Photo

Since the beginning of 2015, some 59 foreign pilots among 700 tenured by the Turkish Airlines have resigned from the company amid the sharp drop in the value of the Turkish Lira. 

Most of Turkish Airlines’ foreign pilots receive their salaries in lira and have therefore faced dramatic income losses due to the lira’s loss of over 20 percent of its value against the U.S. dollar this year. Many pilots have opted to resign and to work for foreign airliners that pay salaries on dollar basis, according to company sources. 

Turkish Airlines had recently taken the decision to boost its number of foreign pilots after a crash in Amsterdam, particularly focusing its recruitment drive in the Russian capital Moscow.

It is expected that Turkish Airlines will make further selections to recruit foreign pilots in other countries within a short space of time, in order to replace those who have resigned in recent months.