I know that being a pilot doesn’t hold nearly as much caché as it used to, but Air Asia is really trying to drive this profession into the ground even further. They need pilots, so what are they doing? In their own words . . . .
So YOU wanna be a pilot? Simple. What do you have to do? Blog. What? Thats [sic] it? Yes, you’re reading it right. Blog.
Scary thought, right? I mean, this seems like a very strange way to find someone to command an airplane full of dozens of people. To be fair, it’s not really as bad as it sounds. The winners of this contest just get their foot in the door for an interview. I assume at that point, something like decent flying skills will actually be required. But I can’t imagine that something this gimmicky is good for public perception of the airline.
What really gets me is the poorly-edited, low sound quality video they’ve included to promote the contest:
What’s the first reason the man with the sun glasses who appears to fly for the airline likes being a pilot? “Because of the girls.” The second reason? “’cause of the bling-bling and because of the money.” I know it’s a joke (sort of), and I’m sure this kind of talk could go on behind the scenes at any airline, but come on, Air Asia. You have passengers watching this video, and that hardly gives off an aura of competency.
The good news is that there are some rules behind this competition, but of course those are buried in the fine print. Yes, you actually do have to meet minimum standards as set by the government of Malaysia and you must have received decent grades in school. And like I said, this just gets you in the door for an interview. So it’s not really as bad as it looks, but it sure does look bad.
Heck, I might fit in with these clowns myself. I’d be tempted to give it a shot except for one slight problem. You have to be proficient in Bahasa Malaysia. And according to the comments, it seems like you have to be a Malaysian national. Well, so much for that.
[Thanks to Bangalore Aviation for the tip]
