Heroes of the air – Fewer and fewer helicopter pilots: Rega and Co. are required – News


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The training is becoming more and more difficult – the shortage of pilots is increasing. The air rescue companies must act.

Over 16,000 helicopter missions were organized at Rega’s national air rescue center last year. They are flown by highly qualified pilots. Only: There are not too many of them on the personnel market. Because a bottleneck in the cockpit would be fatal, the air rescue companies have to react.

2000 flight hours and special training

Landings in steep terrain, emergency procedures, crew training – the demands on helicopter pilots in air rescue are extremely high. “It takes at least 2,000 flight hours and various special training courses,” says Severin Deflorin, flight instructor at Rega.

Increasingly strict requirements


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“In recent years there have been some changes that have exacerbated the situation,” says Axel de Preux from Air Glacier.

Two examples:

The international requirements are becoming ever more stringent, tests are needed again and again so that the licenses do not expire.

Hardly any applications

“When we advertise a job as a rescue helicopter pilot, an average of five people apply,” says Ernst Kohler, Managing Director of the air rescue service. “If there are two left after the assessment and we can choose, then that’s a lot these days.”

If there are two left after the assessment and we can choose, that’s a lot these days.

Nevertheless, nobody at Rega wants to talk about a shortage of skilled workers. Since 2013, she has had a youth development program. “Although this is having an effect, it is still not enough for the future,” says Kohler.

Air Zermatt relies on its own offspring


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Whenever possible, Air Zermatt recruits its next generation of pilots from its own ranks. There are various reasons for this, the company writes on request:

If the decision is positive for a candidate, Air Zermatt will bear the costs for all training. Due to the broad spectrum, this process is very complex and takes around five years.

“We always have unsolicited applications,” says the media spokesman for Alpine Air Ambulance AG, Marc Schlittler. “But, there is a tightening in the market.” The company, which also flies rescue missions in Switzerland, provides financial incentives. The AAA covers part of the training costs and offers the young pilots an additional job in operations management.

Simulator to reduce costs

In order to increase the quality of the flights and reduce costs, Rega is now using a new flight simulator. It is investing CHF 12 million together with its partner Swiss Helicopter.

Extreme situations can hardly be practiced in normal flight hours.

“In the simulator you can practice what to do if, for example, a turbine shuts down,” says flight instructor Deflorin. “To the bitter end”. The flight simulator has three interchangeable cockpits. “In addition to training, retraining on other types of helicopters can also take place.”

The Alpine Air Ambulance has also been using flight simulators for years to train its staff. They practice on an army simulator.

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