By VEN SREENIVASAN

TIGER Airways is getting into pilot training in a big way by embarking on initiatives involving cargo pilot conversion and multi-pilot licensing (MPL).

The budget carrier yesterday announced the two initiatives, but gave little details about costs, timelines or the total number of trainees to be involved in the programmes.

The cargo pilot training programme will re-train cargo pilots who lost their jobs amid the slump in the global air cargo industry.

The plan is to eventually place these pilots with the fast growing Tiger Airways.

Airlines worldwide have let go scores of cargo pilots over the past year as demand and yields in the sector plummeted. Singapore Airlines Cargo, which bled to the tune of $104 million for its April-June 2009 quarter, has already released dozens of pilots.

Meanwhile, Tiger - which has 56 A320 planes on order - is also partnering Singapore Aviation Training Academy and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore to sponsor MPL.

Tiger said that it would provide the relevant oversight to ensure that the training programme adhered to the carrier's stringent standards.

MPL places more emphasis on simulator-based training than traditional pilot training. But upon joining an airline, the pilot undergoes additional training of about two months to prepare him for the actual aircraft he will fly.

Tiger is expected to start off with about six trainee pilots.

Set up five years ago, Tiger Airways now operates nine aircraft in Singapore, plying 19 routes. Its sister airline, Tiger Australia, is based in Melbourne.

This article was first published in The Business Times.