Aviation India: Careers

Airhostess academies are sprouting like wild mushroom. Air Hostess Academy (AHA), Frankfinn Institute of Airhostess Training, Indian Aviation Acadmy (IAA), Flying Cats and Avalon are just a few. Technically, there are around 100-odd institutes but only six to seven big players. With course fees ranging from Rs 60,000 to nearly Rs 2,50,000, the one question that comes to mind is, are the courses worth the money?
Diana D’costa, an airhostess and a former student of AHA, says, “I owe it to the course because I am living my dream and flying in an international airline.” While, Prajakta Patel, an airhostess in a domestic airline says, “It was helpful as the faculty provides advice and helps with placements, but I definitely don’t think they are worth a lakh.”
The minimum academic qualification is HSC, but this may vary as some international airlines prefer graduates. Jeh Wadia, managing
director, GoAir, says, “A course from IATA is of no help if one fails to have the kind of personality required for the cabin crew post.”
“Apart from role-specific technical and functional qualifications, a passion for the industry and the confidence to resolve hurdles are necessary”, says Surajit Banerjee, vice-president HR, Spicejet Limited.
Tie-ups with airways are now coming handy in campus recruitments. While most institutes have a placement record of 85 per cent, the course fees have increased over the years. AHA HR Solutions, a sister concern of AHA, is the official recruiting agency in India for Oman Airways and Emirates while Air Deccan recruits cabin crew from Frankfinn. The latest to join the league is Kingfisher Training Academy.
Once candidates begin working for domestic airlines the salary is usually between Rs 15,000 - Rs 20,000 while for the international airlines it can be between Rs 35,000 - Rs 40,000 and can move up to Rs 1 lakh.
“We take students from training institutes only when there is an urgent need. Otherwise, we prefer direct recruitments, after which the candidates go through our specialised training course,” says Wadia.
31/05/07 Naomi Lobo/Expressindia.com

If the vast potential of the newly-opened Clark International Aviation (CIA) at the Clark Special Economic Zone in Pampanga, Philippines would be realized, commercial pilots can well be the next professionals that Filipinos could be famous for.
Opened early this year, the CIA offers an intensive, integrated 12-month training of first-time pilots. At the end of the program, graduates would be qualified and certified to fly Airbus 320s, the most favored single-aisle aircraft in the world.
CIA chairman and chief executive officer Mark Pearson believes there will come a day, while on a flight from London to Paris, he would recognize the captain as a graduate of CIA - and a Filipino at that.
At the core of CIA program is an $ 11-million, state-of-the-art full flight simulator, the first of its kind in the country.
"We train pilots who have never flown an airplane before. They graduate from college and come here for the intensive, integrated, 12-month program. They come and live here at Clark. In the first five months, they spend their time in the classrooms to learn all the theoretical knowledge plus ground studies. They have to learn about aviation, meteorology, navigation, flight instruments and air law, among others," explained Pearson, himself a former pilot for the British airline Monarch.
From ground instructions, the pilot cadets move on to fly 70 hours in small light planes where they will learn "basic pilot skills.
Pilot-cadets live inside the CIA compound but are accorded comfortable accommodations. Pilot-cadets may also bring their wives with them during the program.
At the end of the 12 months, the pilot-cadets not only graduate as commercial pilots but fully type-rated to fly the Airbus 320 which immediately made them eligible to enter the airline service.
At the moment, course fee is pegged at $ 80,000.
Pearson added that what makes CIA’s program distinct is that it is the first school in the world which has actually commenced with the multicrew license program approved by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
He added that CIA is an international school and that majority of the pilot-cadets do happen to be Filipinos. But it does have students from Europe and India and is expecting a huge influx from the Middle East and China.
30/05/07 Ronniel C. De Guzman/Manila Bulletin, Philippines

Mumbai: Air India has bought seven new Boeing aircraft for its low cost operations. These are perhaps the best ones so far in its fleet with features like leather seats and in-flight entertainment.
However, the planes stand grounded at Air India's hanger in Mumbai, as there are no pilots to fly. Besides, soon there will be four more similar planes parked unused.
"We are short of cockpit crew. We have 62 foreign pilots and we are continuously recruiting pilots, converting young pilots and air-force pilots as co-pilots. We hope to keep pace as new aircraft join our fleet," said Captain PP Singh, CEO, Air India Express.
During the current vacation session, when airlines attempt to maximize revenue by trying to keep as many planes on air, grounding aircraft is not only a waste of revenue but also an opportunity lost.
As Air India and Indian merge, the combined entity will be taking delivery of over 100 planes. With the problem of shortage of pilots only increasing, for Air India there is little time in hand.
28/05/07 Rumi Dutta Hardasmalani/NDTV.com

New Delhi: At least 1,000 fit and trained pilots of the Indian Air Force (IAF) are stuck in ground and desk jobs mainly because the force does not have enough aircraft, according to classified air force documents.
The government spent about Rs 5,000 crore in training these pilots to fly combat and other aircraft, says one of these documents seen by the Hindustan Times.
The air force currently has 3,068 pilots. Against that it has 790 aircraft — 340 fighters, 450 transports and helicopters. Only half the fleet is available at any given time, with the remaining being serviced. The air force plans to reduce its transport fleet further by about 40 per cent by 2010, according to another IAF document.
Although the IAF has put a large number of its pilots on non-flying duties, it says it still faces a shortage. In a reply faxed to the Hindustan Times, it said: "IAF continues to have shortages in the flying branch."
The air force maintains that since a huge amount of money is spent on training pilots, they cannot be easily allowed to leave the force to join the private sector.
According to government figures presented this year in Parliament, there is a shortage of around 220 commercial pilots. In the next five years, with the expansion in the civil aviation sector, the figure is expected to reach 5,000.
The IAF's argument on not relieving pilots contradicts its own classified policy document — Vision 2020, which states that a pilot who has served the force for 15 years should be allowed to leave.
"The cost of training an officer is recovered after eight years of service. In the proposed career progression versus age profile, an officer would have a reasonable idea of where he stands after 15 years of service. At this juncture the officers be permitted an outlet, with a golden handshake," the 2020 document says.
"Those officers superannuating during the next one year are being sponsored. At 54 years of age, an IAF pilot would have contributed adequately to the objectives of service. For civil aviation, one can fly till 65 years. Hence they can be utilised for as much as 11 years after they leave," the IAF has said in its written response.
25/05/07 Nagendar Sharma/Hindustan Times

Mumbai: Even as they recently celebrated 25 years of inception of the air wing, the Indian Coast Guard is plagued with increasing shortage of pilots. As against 110 pilots, the force currently has only 60 odd pilots. What adds to the worries of the Coast Guard’s worry is that it expects its strength to deplete further as one third of its pilots are said to be contemplating quitting the force to avail better opportunities in the private sector.
The Coast Guard has 24 Dornier aircrafts, 17 Chetak helicopters and four Dhruv (Advanced Light Helicopters), four advanced offshore patrol vessels, nine offshore patrol vessels, 16 fast patrol and 13 inshore patrol vessels, manned by 932 officers and 5,339 sailors.
But this is not the only concern. The Coast Guard’s worry is further accentuated as despite changing service rules for the first time to fill the 20 per cent gap, they are yet to receive any applications from candidates holding a commercial pilot’s licence to work as pilots.
Implemented this year, the new service rule allows the aircrew cadre to leave the force after a short service of seven to ten years. The Coast Guard like the Indian Air Force (IAF), which is also facing a similar problem (of pilots quitting to join the private airline industry) had made changes in the services as they felt that hard service rules was a hindrance in attracting men to the force.
“While the facilities and opportunities the force provides is the best, the monthly salary of Rs35,000 after 18 years of service is pathetic,” said a pilot, who like many others is thinking of resigning after completing 20 years of service, following which he will be entitled for government pension.
25/05/07 Daily News & Analysis

Chandigarh: The Punjab government today gave its approval for setting up three flight training schools in the state under public private partnership (PPP) model and also upgrading the infrastructure at the Patiala Flying Training Academy.
The schools would come up at Amritsar, Ludhiana and Bathinda.
The decision was taken at a review meeting chaired by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, an official spokesman said.
Badal asked officials of the Civil Aviation Department not to miss the boom in the sector but tie up with the leading players in the field for setting up world-class pilot training centres in the state.
He also asked the Secretary, Civil Aviation to submit a detailed proposal for upgrading the Sahnewal airfield in collaboration with the Airport Authority of India in a joint venture.
23/05/07 Sahara Samay

With the demand for pilots at an all-time high, more and more youngsters are training to take to the skies, and nowhere more than in Hyderabad, which is home to both government and private aviation academies.
The boom in the airline industry has triggered a huge shortage of pilots in India.
There is an estimated demand for 94,000 pilots in the next five years in the Asia-pacific region.
The director general of civil aviation has eased the qualification norms to get a commercial pilot's license.
For instance, the number of mandatory flying hours has been reduced from 250 to 200. Only those with 6 by 6 eyesight could get a pilot's job earlier. But now, vision that can be corrected to 6 by 6, can qualify.
''Anybody with a CPL now has every chance to be selected as a pilot. There was a time when people with 1500-2000 hours of flying also found it difficult to get jobs,'' said L Kumaran, former advisor of Jet Airways Training.
There are, however, some concerns about youngsters flying high too soon.
''The maturity level of an 18-year-old is relatively less than for a 24-year-old. Their level of understanding and seriousness is less. But because of the demand, they are forced to mature and handle emergencies as a pilot sometimes even at 18,'' said Captain Vinod, a simulator instructor.
23/05/07 Radhika Iyer/NDTV.com

London: India needs to tackle a skills shortage in order to safeguard ambitious growth targets set for its rapidly expanding aviation market, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said on Wednesday.
"We have issues with a manpower shortage. We need a lot of pilots, a lot of engineers, a lot of technicians, a lot of ATCOs (air traffic control officers)," Patel said in an interview with Reuters, adding that a training centre was planned to help meet the challenge.
He has promised a blueprint in the coming months for the industry's expansion to 2020, a plan which includes upgrading an airport at Nagpur to create a major hub for cargo in India.
Patel said India's market is expected to need 400-500 business jets in the next five years and between 600 and 1,000 helicopters in the next five to seven years.
23/05/07 Reuters India

Mumbai: UB group, the promoter of fullservice airline Kingfisher Airlines, will start an aviation university with an estimated cost of Rs 200 crore. The university will house a fully equipped pilot training centre.
“The pilot training centres would be set up on the lines of flying schools in the country. The university would have all kinds of simulators to extend comprehensive training to aspiring pilots,” said UB Group Chairman and Kingfisher Airlines CEO Vijay Mallya.
Mallya said the UB Group was relocating its brewery to Taloja (near Navi Mumbai) from current location at Nerul.
“This location would be used for the aviation university. The readily available land will certainly speed up the process of setting up the institute,” he added.
The group has already launched Kingfisher Training Academy as a 100 per cent subsidiary, offering courses in retail, hospitality, aviation and customer services management sectors.
The academy is planning to have 10 more branches in key cities across the country by this financial year-end.
The campus is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities that offer students a live cabin services simulator — an Airbus A320 mock-up, classrooms equipped with audio-visual facilities, computer-based training rooms, food & beverage service laboratory and grooming suite.
22/05/07 P R Sanjai/Business Standard

Mumbai\New Delhi: The salaries of Indian Airlines’ (IA) ground staff, who have threatened to strike work over wage arrears, are on a par with their peers in Air-India (A-I) and other private airlines.
About 14,000 of the 18,000-strong IA employees have threatened to go on a mass leave on May 18, demanding a settlement of their 10-year salary arrears.
The entry-level and the average salaries of the state-owned domestic carrier are almost similar to those of their counterparts in Air-India and domestic private carriers.
The entry-level ground staff in IA get a salary of Rs 15,000 compared with about Rs 10,000 at Air Deccan. The salaries of entry-level IA staff are at par with their peers in Jet Airways and AI. There is a difference in the pay packets of IA pilots and cabin crew when compared with those of its big brother, Air-India. While an A-I pilot draws an average salary of Rs 6 lakh a month, his counterpart in I-A gets Rs 5 lakh.
Air-India primarily flies on international routes, while Indian Airlines flies on shorter international and domestic routes.
Meanwhile, engineers of both the state-run airlines as well as those of private air carriers are paid between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 2 lakh a month.
“Some private airlines are even paying their engineers Rs 3 lakh a month to retain talent. This is because of an acute shortage of engineers even as the airlines are expanding rapidly,” an industry source said.
Even the I-A employees’ association concedes that the pay packet of its ground staff is at par with those of private airlines.
17/05/07 PR Sanjay & Anirban Chowdhury/Business Standard

The Netherlands-based Beta Empire Group is in talks with three Malaysian companies to open an aviation academy in Malaysia, catering to both local and international students.
Beta Empire chairman Rajmohan Pillai said it expects to sign an agreement with a local partner as early as next month.
He declined to reveal the names of the three Malaysian companies, except to say that they are all involved in the aviation sector.
The Indian group is willing to spend between US$40 million (RM136.4 million) and US$50 million (RM170.5 million) to set up the aviation centre in Malaysia.
The proposed academy will be an extension of its US$90 million (RM306.9 million) University of Aviation in Hyderabad, India.
The recently-completed university, which will open its doors next month, is the first of its kind in South-East Asia.
On whether the Government is receptive of its initiative, Rajmohan said his representative in Malaysia has already met with the Department of Civil Aviation officials and the response has been positive.
The investment in the aviation academy will either be in the form of equity in a company that already has existing infrastructure, or buil- ding up the infrastructure from scratch with the cooperation of a local partner.
"The centre here will be more of an initiative to enable students in this region to study in Malaysia, a country that is much more easier to adapt compared with other countries," Rajmohan said.
14/05/07 Business Times - Malaysia, Malaysia

Mumbai: Jet airways CMD Naresh Goyal today said a flight academy would be set up at Brussels in Belgium, where atleast 200 Indian engineers would be be trained as pilots and engineers.
Talking to reporters after presentation of the airlines' first acquired Boeing 777-300 ER and Airbus 330-200 aircraft, Mr Goyal said this training to young Indians will help in reducing the dearth of good pilots. He said the expertise of Australians and Swiss will also be used in this sector as the accident rate in Australia is zero per cent.
He said in next five years he expects to get 50 per cent of the domestic and international market from India.
When asked whether Jet airways would join any of the aviation alliances, Mr Goyal said at present he would concentrate more on bilateral relations and improving the Jet standards in place of joining any alliance.
13/05/07 UNI/NewKerala.com

Chandigarh: The government Thursday gave green signal in principle to a proposal for setting up world class pilot training centers in the state.
An official spokesperson of the Punjab government said here Thursday that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has directed state Chief Secretary to approach the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Airport Authority of India (AAI) for early clearance of the proposal to upgrade the facilities at Ludhiana and Patiala airports. One of the key issues relates to the provision of night landing facility at these airports. In addition, the state government also wants the DGCA to review the altitude norms for the Sahnewal airport to permit flying above 3500 feet.
The Chief Minister was keen that the state must not miss the aviation boom the way it had missed the IT and BT booms. He has asked the state government officials to invite leading flying schools in the world to set up their centers in the state. The system of open bidding would be followed to get the best service providers in, said the official spokesperson.
The official statement today came after a meeting between the state Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and representatives of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) led by their local unit president, Harvinder Singh. The meeting centered round discussions on expanding the facility to impart training to the Punjabi youth so that they could take up commercial flying as their profession. He said that with the expansion of air and cargo services India has a tremendous potential to utilize the services of these trained commercial pilots.
Badal said that the state government would come out with the tender within a month inviting flying academies/ institutes of repute to run the existing flying clubs at Patiala and Ludhiana in the first and Amritsar in the second phase in private public partnership mode.
Harvinder Singh who is presently running a flying club at his native village Jassowal in district Ludhiana requested the Chief Minister to allow him for expansion of the club to cater to the growing demand of training for seeking the commercial pilot license.
10/05/07 PunjabNewsline.com

Jamshedpur: Several students of Frankfinn Institute of Air Hostess Training were recently picked up by top airline companies for various posts ranging from air hostesses, to flight stewards and even ground staff at leading airports both within and outside India.
What makes their achievement special is that they are the first batch from the less-than-one-year-old institute to have made it big.
So far, about 12 students at the institute have either been placed or shortlisted by seven airlines from India and Middle East countries.
The rest of the students have also done the city proud by being selected for the final and ultimate rounds of interviews of Spice Jet, Indigo, Kingfisher and Qatar Airways.
“Besides airlines, we are also trying to place our students with leading hotels or tour operators,” said Patel.
Frankfinn, which offers a one-year course in avia- tion, hospitality and travel management, right now has over 200 students in seven batches.
10/05/07 Nilanjana Ghosh Choudhury/The Telegraph

New Delhi: Indian Airlines will soon have a younger crew on board. It has come up with an attractive retirement scheme for crew above 40 years of age. FE was the first to report the move on February 15.
The board of Indian Airlines on Wednesday approved a scheme to allow cabin crew to voluntarily opt for retirement or ground duties. Referred to as the voluntary rehabilitation/rejuvenation scheme, it will help Indian Airlines delineate a youthful image in the extremely competitive aviation market.
The average age of airhostesses in Indian Airlines is well above the industry average, which is also due to the fact that a government ban on recruitment in the non-operational categories was put in place in 2000.
Cabin crew over 41 will have the option of retiring with a compensation package ranging between Rs 25 lakh and Rs13 lakh, depending on their age. This will be in addition to the existing post-retirement benefits.
Furthermore, cabin crew below 50 can opt for ground duties at the discretion of the company. They will receive the benefit of an additional monthly compensatory allowance ranging from Rs 15,000 to Rs 50,000.
At present, Indian Airlines has 1,420 personnel as cabin crew, of which 1,170 are air hostesses. Air hostesses draw an average salary of Rs 5 lakh a year. The starting salary for the flight crew ranges between Rs 20,000 and Rs 25,000 a month and can go up to Rs 35,000-40,000.
In Jet airways, the average age of cabin crew is 24 years, with an average initial salary of Rs 28,000 that can go up to Rs 38,000 for crew with more than five years of experience.
10/05/07 Financial Express

New Delhi: European plane maker Airbus plans to invest more than $1 billion in the Indian aviation industry in the next 10 years, a senior executive said on Monday.
The investment would cover training, a maintenance facility, and a design and engineering centre.
"We have decided to invest over $1 billion in the next 10 years in Indian aviation," John Leahy, chief operating officer (customers) of Airbus, told a news conference.
An Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger aircraft, is in India on a promotional flight for India's Kingfisher Airlines.
Airbus, part of the EADS group, has said it expects Indian firms to place orders for 1,100 passenger and freighter aircraft valued at about $105 billion over 20 years.
07/05/07 Reuters India

Mysore: World's leading airhostess training centre, city-based Frankfinn Institute of Airhostess Training has now become an exclusive Cabin crew recruitment partner of Air Deccan, India's second largest airline after Indian Airlines.
This was disclosed by Rakesh Agarwal, MD of the Institute at its premises on Kamakshi Hospital Road in Saraswathipuram here this morning.
The partnership, initially under a two-year agreement, ensures that only students trained at Frankfinn will be recruited by Air Deccan. The programme will aim to meet the acute shortage of human resources in the aviation sector of the country, he said.
The Institute is in a position to guarantee at least 400 placements each year during the contract period with Air Deccan, he assured. In addition, the candidates will have scope to attend interviews conducted by other enterprises in the sector as well as the service sector related to airlines such as hotels and travel organisations, he added.
Bahrain, Bangladesh Sri Lanka and Nepal are being added to the network in due course, he said.
In 2006 alone, 11,500 candidates trained by Frankfinn network got recruited in various airlines and hospitality enterprises, he added.
05/05/07 Star of Mysore

Nagpur: The Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court on Thursday directed the state government to reopen Flying Club in two months. In the process, the division bench comprising justices K J Rohee and S R Dongaonkar rejected government's plea to provide three-month period to open the club.
As per the petitioner Shridhar Ghatate, a retired military officer, director general of aviation, during his visit to Nagpur Flying Club opined that the planes lying with the club are in good condition and need minor repairs to fly again.
The petitioner informed that court that the Madhya Pradesh Flying Club also showed willingness to repair the aircraft in just 45 days. He also claimed that many foreign companies are showing interest in opening flying clubs in India. American School of Aviation is start-ing a flying club in Bangalore and Leave Well, another US company, has showed interest in opening flying clubs in Nagpur and many other places in India.
Additionally, Damania is also opening such clubs in Mumbai and near Kolhapur. These companies have also made huge investments in their projects, the petitioner claimed.
04/05/07 Times of India

New Delhi: Finance minister P Chidambaram on Thursday moderated his Budget proposal to levy 3% import duty, additional custom duty as well as countervailing duty on import of aircraft, including helicopter, by removing flying schools and smaller regional operators from its purview. The provisions would, however, continue to apply to non-scheduled operators (all other operators other than regional), corporate jets and for private use.
Replying on the debate on the Finance Bill Chidambaram said, “Ministry of civil aviation has made a strong representation in favour of exemption for aircraft imported for training purposes by flying clubs and institutes and for non-scheduled point-to-point and non-scheduled charter operators under conditions of registration to be specified and recommended by that ministry. Since civil aviation is a nascent and growing industry, it has been decided to accept this request and exempt these categories also from the duties.”
The three duties (import, additional custom duty and countervailing) put together added up to almost 26% of the purchase value of an aircraft. The proposal would help the non-scheduled airline or the flying club save $6.6 to $ 10.4 million on purchase of each aircraft.
03/05/07 Financial Express

A South-Burnett aircraft manufacturer in south-east Queensland is to build 17 new planes bound for India.
Gary Dean from Dean Wilson Aviation at Kingaroy says his partner flew to India yesterday and contracts are expected to be signed today.
Mr Dean says the 17 new training aircraft will go to three Indian air schools and will create up to 20 new jobs in Kingaroy.
"It's a very big deal. That'll put us on the map as far as production, to ramp-up production," Mr Dean said.
He says it will mean the company's work force will need to grow.
"About 20 more [jobs] I would think, but whether we make them all here or not I'm not sure," he said.
"Some of them may be made in India under licence, but certainly we'll make the first 10 or so and send them over from here."
03/05/07 ABC Regional Online, Australia

Calcutta: To cash in on the recent boom in the aviation industry, Excellence Aviation Academy launched a centre in the city on Wednesday. The academy is the brainchild of Parvez Damania, erstwhile director of Sahara airline and executive director of Kingfisher airline. The centre, in Salt Lake, is the first of its kind in eastern India.
Responding to the growing demand of the aviation industry, a number of institutes like Pailan Aviation Institute, Frankfinn Institute of Airhostess Training, Air Hostess Academy, have come up in the past few years which provide training on various aspects of the aviation industry.
The institute will provide air hostess and flight purser training, airline ground staff courses, aviation security and aviation cargo training and flight dispatcher modules. The pilot training courses are expected to commence by January 2008.
The duration of the courses range from two months to a year. The diploma course will cost Rs 25,000 to Rs 1 lakh. The pilot training course fee will be between Rs 14 and Rs 16 lakh.
03/05/07 The Telegraph