Royal Air Maroc Struggles to Integrate Trainee Pilots Amid Post-Pandemic Challenges

Responding to an oral question in the House of Representatives on the situation of RAM trainee pilots, the minister stated that despite the difficult conditions related to the Covid-19 pandemic, Royal Air Maroc (RAM) has proposed, since December 2021, a gradual recruitment of a number of trainee pilots within a 100% subsidiary of the national company. "The recruitment proposal in the subsidiary was in exchange for salaries equivalent to those offered by competing international companies, but relatively lower than their pre-pandemic level," he explained.

He also recalled the company’s decision in 2015 to contribute to the training of several Moroccan pilots in Toulouse (France) by guaranteeing the loans contracted by the training beneficiaries, to whom RAM gave priority in terms of recruitment in the event of a possible need. But not all of these pilots are enthusiastic about a possible recruitment. They have stated through "documents signed by them that the company is not obliged to hire them at the end of the training period," said Mohamed Abdeljalil.

Some have accepted the employment offer at the RAM subsidiary, while others, trained in other countries, have accepted to work under the same offer, it is further specified. Severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, the national airline has decided to revise its recruitment policy, including for pilots, by hiring them in a 100% owned subsidiary, the minister said. The aim is to adjust the company’s expenses to the current situation and strengthen its competitiveness to ensure its sustainability in an open market characterized by fierce competition.