Aviation India: Careers

Mumbai: Pilots are worried about their co-pilots and that is worrying the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). “Would you trust your driver if he had just 10 hours of driving experience?” asks a senior and experienced pilot of a low-cost airline.
The boom in the aviation sector has triggered off a time-bomb waiting to explode. A student-pilot, who was earlier required to fly 250 hours for acquiring a Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL), is now required to fly only 200 hours.
“After completing 197 hours, the next three hours are spent for the check ride to finally acquire a commercial pilot licence,” says Marc Carvalho, who is CEO of the Baramati-based Academy of Carver Aviation Private Ltd.
Aviation experts are not as worried by the reduction in flying hours as by the decline in the quality and standards of training imparted. “There have been cases where a student has flown for one hour and the authorities at the flying clubs make them log in two hours or more,” says a captain with a major airline.
“When they make the student log in more than what they have flown, they cut fuel cost, wear and tear of the machine. Also, many students move out quickly leading to more students coming in,” says an airline examiner. “As a result the quality being churned out by these schools is very poor.”
29/07/07 R Swaminathan, Swati Chopra & Gautam Sheth/Daily News & Analysis

India, like many developing nations, puts legal restrictions on its military pilots, to prevent them from leaving for more lucrative jobs in civil aviation. This is making it more difficult to recruit new military pilots. Many potential military pilots note that airline pilots make twice what air force generals make, and much more than lower ranking officers.
Increasingly, it makes better economic sense for an educated, and physically qualified young Indian to go into debt to go through commercial flying school, in order to eventually qualify for an airline job.
In response, India now provides an added incentive for these men to join the air force. Each year, the air force will allow an unspecified number of senior pilots (including generals, who are still qualified to fly) to leave the service and take an airline job. An air force general in his mid 50s makes about $17,000 a year (after taxes), but can quickly make twice that as a co-pilot in an airliner. The older air force pilots can fly commercial aircraft until they are 65.
The higher pay, plus their military pension, gives younger military pilots something to look forward to. The pilots of these commercial airlines are usually younger than their newly retired co-pilots, but these military pilots often have over 4,000 hours in the air, and that experience is appreciated.
This program isn't just about improving the morale of military pilots, there is a severe shortage of airliner pilots worldwide. In many countries, including the United States, this is forcing airlines to cancel an increasing number of flights.
29/07/07 Strategy Page

Pailan Aviation Institute is a promising institute in Siliguri that offers a robust career option for those who wish to fly high, says Swaati Chaudhury
If you’re interested to shape your career as an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer, then look forward to join Pailan Aviation Institute (PAI) that has emerged as the largest aviation-training institute in the Eastern region of India. This training institute came up sometime in August 2005, and
from July 2006, it started a three-year combined course in Aircraft Maintenance Engineering in Rotary Wing Aircraft (Helicopter) and Jet Engine, which has been approved by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Government of India.
Candidates have to appear in a written test and interview and are selected on the basis of their merit. There are state-of-the-art teaching facilities; highly qualified faculty, updated hangar, computer laboratory, machine shop, modern workshop and a library spruced up with books, periodicals and aviation magazines.
Placements are offered in public sector airlines like Air India, Indian Airlines, Alliance Air, Pawan Hans and Coal India while private airlines include Jet Airways, Sahara Airlines, Air Deccan, Kingfisher Airlines, Spice Jet and Air Emirates.
For those who wish to dart across the globe, the institute has designed one-year diploma course in Airline Hospitality Management for the
aspiring Airhostess, Cabin Crew, Ground Staff, hospitality, and travel & tourism professionals.
Apurba Saha, Founder and Chairman, Pailan Group, said, “We are mulling options to launch the diploma course in Srinagar sometime in August, 2007. Our institute has its presence in offering diploma course in places like Agartala and Siliguri.Very soon, we will spread our wings in Jamshedpur, Durgapur and also in Dhaka.”
27/07/07 The Statesman

Coimbatore: A major project at Bharathiar University here involving the identification of anthropometric indicators that will be used to design equipment for women pilots of the Indian Air Force (IAF), is in the final stages. The university’s Centre for Life Sciences is developing the indicators as part of a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) project.
“A national standard for women in the recruiting age is not available in India. A database for men is available. The British standard is still being followed for women. Hence, the IAF has entrusted the DRDO with the job of providing a national standard for women,” says S. Balasubramanian, principal investigator of the project at the university.
The mammoth project, launched in 1998, has involved recording anthropometric parameters of young women in the 18-24 age group, graduates and post-graduates, from different societal groups.
About 24,000 women were interviewed and their measurements taken.
A common national standard will be derived from the results. The overall national average will be handed over to the DRDO, which will send it to the IAF. “This can be applied to fix the physical standard for the selection of women pilots, design their clothing, workstation, personal protective equipment, face mask, gloves, and also a compatible cockpit”, says W. Selvamurthy, Chief Controller, Research and Life Sciences Development, DRDO. The Centre will finalise the national standard by 2008.
27/07/07 Amutha Kannan/The Hindu

There is a huge requirement for pilots and engineers at the moment. By one count, the country would need 15,000 pilots by 2020, though the immediate needs for airlines are more modest. Kingfisher, for instance, needs 1,000 pilots as it triples its fleet to 100 aircraft by 2012. Air-India needs around 950 pilots to fly the 68 new Boeings it is acquiring.
To meet the requirements in the short term, airlines are hiring expatriate pilots. Kingfisher has conducted roadshows in Brazil, Venezuela, Toulouse (France) and Bangkok (Thailand). It is also trying to rope in Indians working with Middle Eastern carriers and ground services companies.
To meet their long-term requirements, Air-India and Kingfisher are nurturing pilots through a cadet programme. Air-India has hired 150 cadet pilots, who would come back in 6-12 months to join as captains.
An airline may save time on training by hiring an expatriate pilot, it takes nearly five months to get a security clearance.
Besides, there is an acute shortage of flight instructors and ground instructors. There are two types of ground instructors — one with engineering background who trains pilots on some systems, and other from operations background.
________________________________
Choose your role
-Graphics by Sanjay Kapoor, Published in Hindustan Times on 04/08/07
________________________________
Flight instructors are senior pilots drawn from within the airline. But they have line duties, and are often not released due to a shortage of pilots and a possible loss of business if an airline had to cancel some flights.
Though this enhances the quality of training, it strains an airline's training resources.
Pilots earn $7,000-11,000 a month, depending on the market, experience and the kind of planes they fly. For instance, pilots for Boeing 777s are the most sought after. Those flying turboprops (ATRs) were paid less earlier, but now are at par with jet pilots.
Sure, there is money in this. But it is important to figure out if you have it in you to stay a pilot or an engineer in the long term.
Pilots should have the practical aptitude and understanding to apply knowledge gained through training to acquire a commercial pilot licence and taking exams conducted by the regulator. He or she also has to be a quick thinker.
Similarly, an engineer should be completely focused on safety. A pilot can overrule an engineer, but most often relies on the engineer.
Jobs for engineers will shoot up with the setting up MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul of aircraft) units. Leading firms have announced collaboration ventures for MRO (Singapore Engineer-GoAir, Jupiter Aviation-Indian-Airbus, and Boeing-Air-India) and more could follow. But whatever the job you may aspire for, it is important to figure if you have the aptitude. Changing course midway, as any pilot can tell you, can be more painful.
26/07/07 Ranju Sarkar/Hindustan Times

Once “handmaidens” in an industry mile-high on glam, the women formerly known as “air-hostesses” have changed their image as well as their job title. And if you thought flight attendants were getting older, you would be right too.
With the job now viewed increasingly as a profession, turnover is not as high as it once was.
The average job tenure of flight attendants is currently more than seven years and rising. But female flight attendants’ fight for rights and legitimacy as serious working women has been a long and tough one.
In fact, it was only in the 90s that attendants saw off discriminatory practices on the subject of weight. (Even today some airlines still restrict the size of their female crew – Air India recently sent some crew on diets.)
But just as the flight attendant evolved from the “air-hostess”, cost-cutting and murderous competition mean the airlines are starting to woo back the “dolly birds”.
According to one industry expert, the airlines are deliberately making the job harder for longer-serving crew in the hope they will quit and make room for fresher, cheaper staff.
“Basically the airlines are trying to get back to the pre-unionised days when women were hired on youth and looks, and inexperience meant wages were low,” says sociologist Drew Whitelegg in a new book.
“Just look at the job profiles of cabin crew for Ryanair and EasyJet – becoming a stewardess is like taking a gap year. ‘Go wild, and travel while you are young for a few months’ is the message.”
Older cabin crew, such as the 85-year-old Iris Peterson who retired from United Airlines last month, will not be happy about the return to old values. But with airline bankruptcies and security uncertainties, the job may lose its hard-earned professional status if some bosses get their way.
The tactic of hiring pretty, easily-fired young things proved popular with the mostly male travellers of the post-war years when male stewards were replaced by “sky girls”, who then made way for the “air-hostess”, who appeared to promise more than service with a smile.
In Asia the “air-hostess” has never really gone away. Singapore Airlines, for one, still emphasises the allure and youth of its female crew. While, in the West, older cabin crew are “high-profile, elder-woman role models” as Whitelegg puts it, in Asia the job is still perceived as glamorous and escapist.
As one of the few half-decent jobs available for educated, middle-class women that doesn’t mean being chained to a desk, the job of air-hostess still has cachet in Japan. So sought-after are these posts that often only the most accomplished graduates – in Japan you need a degree to be a flight attendant – get past the first interview.
Airlines are using all kinds of tactics to encourage older staff to leave, says Whitelegg. “Uniform redesigns emphasise a sexy figure, which many older women don’t feel comfortable in.”
The industry is also stripping away incentives for seniority. “Flying hours have been increased, which can be absolutely knackering as you get older,” adds Whitelegg.
“As flight attendants carry out their new security roles, they are still expected to perform their original duties,” says airline cabin procedures expert and former flight attendant Diana Fairechild.
“Imagine asking marines patrolling enemy territory to simultaneously operate a refreshment stand, being sure to put forth a winning smile. ‘Would you like a pillow? Oh, excuse me, I have to wrestle a knife away from the passenger in 24A’.”
25/07/07 Gulf Weekly, Bahrain

The term - "new-age careers" - has come alive in customer centric industries like aviation and hospitality in India today.
Whether it is in Aviation, Hospitality or for mega events like the ones mentioned above, there will be a highly demanding element of specialized services like security and allied services that will be called upon to ensure a seamless guest service experience. For the discerning guest who avails of any product from the service industry these days, the elements of safety and security are no longer in the realm of unspoken needs. Security in the aviation industry forms the core function that translates into a guest extending his trust to travel from one destination to another.
Longevity, an essential ingredient to growth within an organization, is being redefined both in terms of duration and functionality. Vertical and cross functional promotions and non-annualised upward movement are now used frequently by airlines to retain good people with an aptitude for learning and of course with a good attitude. Gone are the days when a person had to wait for an annual appraisal to take on a new responsibility as a reward. Today at appraisals it is common to see, two or more Heads of Department evaluating an employee. The airline industry offers opportunities for progression from Cabin Crew to In-flight Manager, Trainer and Base Manager in an accelerated mode for the right candidate with the right attitude. What would have technically taken about ten years to achieve is now possible within 3-4 years across all functional areas in airlines.
25/07/07 Rajesh Verma/Hindustan Times

Looks like Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots are eager to move on to greener pastures. Three months after the IAF permitted its aging pilots to switch to the civil-aviation stream, 13 have decided to bid adieu to service to join Air India, the entity created by the merger of Air India and Indian.
The pilots represent both the fighter and transport streams. Those about to leave include seven air vice marshal (AVMs), five air commodores and a group captain, all aged over 54. The IAF had signed an agreement with Air India in April to release 15 to 20 pilots at regular intervals.
These pilots will earn significantly more than their peers in the air force. A 54-year-old AVM or air commodore gets a monthly salary between Rs 50,000 and Rs 60,000. A 20-year-old first officer on a Boeing 737 makes Rs 1.2 lakh per month, post-tax.
Sources in the civil-aviation industry say the IAF pilots will have to adapt to change. A Jet Airways captain says, “An AVM may have logged 4,000 hours of flying but he will have to report to the aircraft captain, who may be far younger. It will require a change in temperament.”
24/07/07 Rahul Singh/Hindustan Times

SpiceJet is back with the Cadet Pilot Programme.
See the deatils here.

Indian is currently doing recruitment for
1. Sr. Trainee Pilot / Trainee Pilot.
2. Senior Captain for B-737-200, Captain for B-737-200 & Captain for ATR-42-320
(On Alliance Air)
3. Cabin Crew
4. Junior Operator

New Delhi: Domestic air travellers will now be flown by a set of expatriate commander and co-pilot, but can they be served by foreign cabin crew as well? The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is grappling with this issue ever since Kingfisher submitted a request for hiring airhostesses and stewards from abroad.
"We are still in a dialogue with the airline. Since Kingfisher is currently not flying abroad, it will have to justify its demand,’’ said a senior DGCA official.
‘‘The basic idea is just to provide a world class experience on our flights,’’ one official said.
Sources said Kingfisher could be trying to get some senior foreign cabin crew to train their Indian employees to provide a world class inflight service on the international flights it is hoping to begin soon.
Language could prove to be the biggest barrier for allowing foreign cabin crew on domestic flights. ‘‘...The ‘expensive’ foreign cabin crew may be deployed only in business class where passengers would be fluent in English,’’ said an industry insider.
21/07/07 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

Pune: Recently, there has been a considerable increase in the number of students opting to stay in India and learning to fly, as it is more economical and closer to the home.
For the first time, all those with a thirst and love for aviation can look forward not only to fulfilling their love for flying, but also combine it with a lucrative and interesting career. Regardless of the commercial aspects, the fact is that flying is all set to be thrilling and glamourous with Carver Aviation Academy, Baramati, one of the largest and most productive flying schools in India.
The Academy now has over 100 students and 21 aircrafts - including 19 single and two multi-engine aircrafts which are continuously airborne. According to Mark Carvalho, the owner of the flying school, he is hardly able to cope with the demand. One of the things Carvalho has done to improve productivity is to buy the new Thorpe T211 single engine trainer aircraft from Taneja Aerospace and Aviation , Bangalore.
The facilities offered at the flying school are state-ofthe-art , that includes simulator training. Apart from this aircraft, they also have Citation XLS and P68C.
20/07/07 Sumantha Rathore/Times of India

With a number of cabin crew training schools mushrooming in the city, youngsters actually seem to be flying high in Nagpur.
Great packages, a glamourous profile and a chance to travel all over the world - for a youngster, 'job' doesn't get better than this. The profile of people who are opting for this course is also a give away. Says Ravi Mishra, Head, Raisoni Aviation School, "Most of the students who enroll for the course come from middle-class backgrounds . These are boys and girls who have an average academic record, and a career in aviation seems to be the only way to a good life"
The booming aviation sector has triggered
a never before demand for air hostesses and flight pursers.
The innumerable academies are cashing in on this boom. With a fee structure, which is in the range of Rs. 1 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh, the cost is steep. Despite this, there is no dearth of students . With a catchment area, which covers the smaller cities of Madhya Pradesh, and Vidarbha, there is a long line of aspirants waiting to enroll.
However, highflying dreams can come crashing down if you are not considered worth it. Says one such trainee on the condition of anonymity , "At the time of admissions, the institutes take anybody and everybody. However, getting a job is a different story altogether. Airlines have stringent standards and you may find yourself grounded, literally."
19/07/07 Barkha Mathur/Times of India

Federiction, New Brunswick: A new flight training centre for international students has just opened in Fredericton, and already officials say it could be one of the largest in Canada by the end of the year.
CANLink Aviation has set up a franchise of the Moncton Flight College and will begin training 60 student pilots from China.
Mike Doiron, the college's chief executive officer and principal, said the potential is there for the college to train up to 700 students a year from China, and potentially from India as well.
"We have a long term target of 200 students per year training here in Fredericton,'' CANLink President Mike Tilley said Wednesday as he addressed reporters in a hanger at the Fredericton airport.
The college already has more than 100 students from China, now training in Moncton.
The New Brunswick government has provided CANLink with a $1 million repayable loan.
18/07/07 Canadian Press/CTV.Ca, Canada

Brussels: The pilot shortage is relatively recent. It is the result of extraordinary growth in air traffic in the Persian Gulf, China and India; the rise of lucrative low-cost carriers in Europe and Asia; and the sustained recovery of the US airlines from the industry recession caused by the 9/11 attacks.
Evidence of the exodus of pilots and mechanics from established airlines and national flag carriers abounds. And poaching is expected to intensify as markets like China and India grow.
Around Asia, flyers from national airlines deserted for better paying jobs with new and successful budget carriers, such as Malaysia's AirAsia, leaving companies no choice but to employ new flying graduates.
In Europe, Belgium's largest carrier, Brussels Airlines, recently complained of losing an average of ten captains a month to pilot-hungry airlines in the Gulf, and have requested government intervention.
India and China alone will need about 4,000 new pilots a year to cope with their growth.
On average, airlines need 30 highly trained pilots available for each long-haul aircraft in their inventory. For short-haul planes they need less, between ten and 18.
In an effort to retain experienced pilots, aviation authorities in some nations are considering extending the mandatory retirement age from 60 to 65 years.
Other airlines plan to moderate their standards, allowing new graduates to co-pilot with experienced captains. But this has placed greater stress on the command pilot, who must fly multi-leg segments while monitoring a co-pilot's performance, rather than sharing the flying load with the first officer.
Paradoxically, the worldwide pilot shortages are also making it harder to train new pilots properly. Flight schools now complain they are understaffed as instructors get hired by regional carriers who have lost pilots to expanding airlines.
The critical shortfall has led the Montreal-based International Civil Aviation Organisation to introduce a shortcut training scheme - the multi-crew pilot licence - enabling airlines to drastically reduce both cost and training time. In this programme, a trainee, supervised by a pilot and co-pilot, will fly a wide-bodied jet within 45 weeks, about what it takes to obtain a driving licence in most European countries.
17/07/07 Slobodan Lekic/Scotsman, United Kingdom

New Delhi: In a move that could help airlines utilise their fleet optimally and not keep planes grounded due to shortage of pilots, government has decided to allow domestic flights even if both pilots in the cockpit are foreigners.
At present, rules stipulate the presence of a trainee Indian pilot in the cockpit if both the commander and the co-pilot are foreigners. This is to ensure there's no communication gap between the pilots and the air traffic control (ATC) due to language barrier.
But getting trainee Indian pilots proved difficult for many airlines, especially the newer ones. To tide over the problem, government has decided on giving "case-by-case" clearance to expat pilots for operating domestic flights.
The clearance comes with a rider. The airline concerned will have to inform the aviation ministry about its programme to train Indian pilots so that the country can hope to get the required number of flyers in the coming years.
18/07/07 Times of India

New Delhi: DGCA had recently disallowed several foreign pilots from flying in India due to their poor understanding of English.
The ministry approved the change in rules after DGCA examined all issues and then recommended — with strict conditions attached — that expat pilots can operate domestic flights. Coupled with choked airport infrastructure, shortage of pilots has reportedly forced some airlines to defer plans for inducting more aircraft in their fleet.
An airline official said the relaxation in rule may help tide over shortage of pilot for some time.
"As of now, about 5,000 aspirant commercial pilots are waiting for the Class I preliminary medical test. Given this figure, we should have a comfortable number in the next two to three years. We need Indian pilots as getting the right foreign ones is becoming increasingly difficult. For instance, there are hardly any expat ATR pilot," he said.
18/07/07 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

New Delhi: With a recent study pointing that the global airline industry will need 25,000 planes by 2025, in addition to the 17,000 planes that will already be in service, a shortage of pilots along with other key crew and support staff is a major worry for the aviation industry which is now exploring new ways to beat the looming crisis.
"The new planes will require more than 18,000 new pilots every year - 360,000 pilots over the next 20 years - on average through 2025 as well as 480,000 new mechanics during that period of time," says Alteon Training, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Boeing company.
In India, the number of pilots will increase from about 3,000 to more than 15,000 whereas in China, airlines will need an average of more than 2,100 pilots a year or more than 43,000 in total in the next 20 years, it adds.
A report prepared by Ministry of Civil Aviation, last year states, "At an industry level requirement of 9 pilots per aircraft, India would need 5,400 pilots by the end of the 11th plan period. Thereafter, there will be a requirement of at least 150 pilots per year as replacements for retirements and other attrition, assuming an effective utilisable life-span of 40 years per pilot.
"At present, 100 pilots graduate from the 40 flying schools each year, out of which only 17 flying schools are operational. This describes well, the weak supply of pilots."
17/07/07 Press Trust Of India/Business Standard

A number of aviation academies have mushroomed all over the country, each promising to churn out smart, successful professionals. Andrea Lopez outlines some of the basic requirements that one would need to succeed as an enterprising flight attendant/purser.
With low-cost carriers making their presence felt in the Indian market, the number of passengers opting for air travel over rail travel has increased. This, coupled with the thrill of flying to various destinations, the promise of a handsome pay packet and the glamour associated with wearing a uniform lures many to take up this profession.
Each training academy has its own policy on recruitment and is selective about the type of candidates they choose. The Indian Aviation Academy (IAA) offers a ten-month cabin crew and in-flight training course. IAA insists on 10+2 as the minimum educational qualification. "Apart from this, candidates should have good communication skills, a pleasing personality, flawless complexion, the willingness to be available when called for and the ability to work long hours," says the institute's managing director, Lubna Kadri.
Frankfinn Institute of Airhostess training offers a one-year part-time course in Hospitality & Travel Management. Classes are scheduled five times a week, two hours a day, and the course content spans learning modules from personal grooming and fitness to effective communication. Air Deccan has entered into a tie-up with Frankfinn, from where it primarily selects its cabin crew. On completion of the course, students find themselves employed in both domestic as well as international airlines.
Interestingly, airlines are looking to set up their own training academies as well, Kingfisher Airlines has launched its own training institute, Kingfisher Training Academy (KTA) to provide seasoned training in aviation. The course will span six months and chairman of UB Group, Dr Vijay Mallya, ascertains that the institute will fine-tune a student's already existing set of skills so that when they leave KTA they are sufficiently grounded in skills required to be a successful cabin crew member.
Meanwhile, the Air Hostess Academy (AHA), set up in 1997, offers a one-year diploma in Aviation & Hospitality management. The course is open to anyone with a 10+2 qualification, a pleasing personality and good communication skills. The fee for any of these courses range from Rs 1,00,000 to Rs 1,50,000 for a one-year diploma.
17/07/07 Express TravelWorld

New Delhi: Kingfisher Airlines’ application seeking regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s (DGCA), permission to use expat cabin crew in international and domestic routes has sent many in the corridors of power into a tizzy. At first, airlines don’t need to take permission from the regulator to hire cabin crew. Secondly, this is the first time any airline is planning to deploy expat cabin crew in domestic routes.
Apart from the novelty factor in the whole exercise, many in DGCA feel there has to be adequate justification for hiring expat cabin crew, when adequate numbers can be trained and deployed locally. “We have sought more information from Kingfisher as to why it needs to deploy expat cabin crew in domestic routes,” DGCA chief Kanu Gohain told ET.
Senior executives from Kingfisher have indicated to DGCA that it could possibly tide over the language issue over expat crew’s knowledge of Hindi, by using a mix of Indian and expat crew in each flight. But DGCA officials have insisted that as per current regulations, each cabin crew member flying in the Indian skies should be able to interact with passengers in both Hindi and English.
Kingfisher wants to start the whole exercise of hiring expat cabin crew over the next 2-3 months, once it gets the go-ahead from the regulator.
17/07/07 Sudipto Dey/Economic Times

Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has stayed the orders issued by the Punjab government directing former Punjab Minister Malikat Singh Birmi to dispossess the hangar in Patiala.
On July 12, Birmi had received orders from the Punjab government for dispossession of the hangar for the use of its club, Northern India Flying Club. Birmi had moved the court alleging that it was fallout of political and legal malafide.
A contempt petition against Birmi is already pending in the High Court. The Northern India Flying Club had filed the petition against Birmi’s flying academy. The club had claimed that despite a compromise between the two parties over mutual use of the hangar in Patiala Civil Aviation Airport, Birmi’s academy locked the hanger and kept the keys with itself.
Protesting this, the Northern India Flying Club had sought directions to Birmi for handing over the keys to them so that the club’s students could use it.
16/07/07 Chandigarh Newsline

A survey by Ficci last week warned that shortage of skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled workers has emerged as a critical factor impacting the competitiveness of Indian industry. On the one hand, industry needs skilled workers to perform various functions on the shopfloor, on the other hand, it requires world-class professionals to lead these companies. The survey identified 20 key sectors that needed immediate attention to stem the movement of people. Another recent survey by Assocham put attrition rates at over 20% with the services sector bearing the maximum brunt even as employees in the manufacturing sector were also found to be restive. Employees in the age group of 26-30 years with 2-4 years of experience were the most vulnerable to jump jobs.
In the aviation sector, entry of low-cost carriers has meant demand for pilots, airhostesses, ground personnel hitting the roof. The sector is supposed to see a demand-supply stabilisation by 2012 by when enough people would have opted for these professions. “The demand for ATR turboprop pilots is higher while there are more jet pilots available,” says Ruby Arya, vice-president, HR, Kingfisher Airlines. Again, coming to air hostesses, while high salaries and the glamour of the job draw hundreds, a high percentage drop out once they realise the rigours of the profession.
Skill shortage in aviation
• India would need 5400 pilots by the end of the 11th Plan. Thereafter, there would be requirement of at least 150 pilots per year as replacements for retirements and normal attrition.
• India would need approximately 1150 controllers and an additional 1000 new personnel between 2005 and 2015 to keep up with the increasing number of flights and new airports.
15/07/07 Banasree Purkayastha/Financial Express

New Delhi: Getting pilot licences from countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia may be easier but think before you plan to go for one. In the wake of the recent crash of two training aircraft near Manila in the Philippines — in which two Indian trainee pilots were killed — the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) is planning to put under the lens all licences obtained from flying schools there.
The move comes close on the heels of the European Union’s ban on Indonesian carriers flying into the continent, citing safety concerns.
“We are trying to verify the licences obtained from these countries, particularly the Philippines, by pilots currently flying in India. We would like to get them verified by the government concerned,” DGCA head Kanu Gohain told ET.
According to current practice, expat pilot licences are verified by the embassies of the countries concerned.
Now, the DGCA wants to make sure that the flight schools concerned are recognised by their government and they adhere to best training practices. “We make it mandatory for all those getting flying certificates from other countries to be tested by our instructors, before issuing them the licence to fly within the country,” said a senior civil aviation ministry official.
Faced with a severe shortage of pilots, Indian carriers hired over 600 expat pilots over the last two years.
14/07/07 Economic Times

New Delhi: Overweight airhostesses of public carrier Indian (Airlines) today approached the Delhi High Court to appeal against an earlier order which left them with the thin choices of “either battle their bulge or face the axe”.
A single bench of the High Court had last month dismissed the challenge raised by the airhostesses against an employment policy to ground them if found above the permissible body weight.
However, admitting the appeal filed by the airhostesses, a Division Bench led by Chief Justice MK Sharma today refused to acknowledge the airline counsel’s submissions that appointment letters served on flight personnel specifically stated strict body weight measures.
Not convinced with the “soundness” of the airline’s weight policy, the Bench issued notice to the public carrier to file a detailed reply by September 6.
13/07/07 Delhi Newsline

Business magnate, Mukesh Ambani's plans to employ only women pilots to fly most of his cargo planes is a case in point that 21st century women are making a mark in the aviation industry that was once considered a man's domain.
Statistics show that there are around 250 women commercial pilots in the country. It's sure been a long flight since Sarla Thakral, India's first woman to fly an aircraft, took to the blue skies! "With parents being more open-minded, more women are taking up the profession. But the figures only add up to around 15 per cent of the total strength of pilots in the country. On an average around 70 students complete their training every year in the city, of which one-fourth are women," says Captain Mamatha K, the first woman pilot from Andhra Pradesh. Incidentally, she is also the first woman to set up an aviation academy.
With the aviation industry booming in India, the future looks promising for lady pilots. It is considered a lucrative career option. "A fresh graduate begins with a remuneration of about Rs 1.5 to 2 lakhs per month. And those with more flying hours and experience draw about Rs 3 - 4 lakhs per month. The perks are at par with men," adds Mamatha, clarifying that gender is not an issue here.
With the best flying jobs available in India, pilots are flocking here from across the globe.
For some, the Indian Air Force is an even better pursuit. Though it does not allow women to fly fighter planes, it allows them to serve the forces.
13/07/07 Chitra Sanam/Times of India

Mumbai: It is not official yet, but airlines in India have informally agreed to enter into a no-poaching pact in view of the crunch in skilled staff. At a recent meeting held in New Delhi under the aegis of the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), human resources (HR) heads of various airlines have discussed certain protocols to be followed by member firms when it comes to their workforce.
Any pilot, wishing to join a rival airline, will have to serve a notice period of six months after resigning from his current position. Also, an employee, at the time of joining a new company, will have to submit a no-objection certificate (NOC) signed by his former employer.
To avoid any clandestine exits, the FIA members have agreed to inform the company from where the employee is being poached in advance. The decision comes after a recent spate of poaching of employees, mostly engineers and pilots by newer airlines.
Jamshed Mistry, an advocate with the Bombay High Court, said, “Under section 27 of the Indian Contract Act, to restrict an employee from joining another organisation is unlawful, unless there are determinant factors mentioned in the contract at the time of his joining the organisation.”
12/07/07 Shaheen Mansuri/Financial Express

Young Bahrainis should think about going to pilot school instead of university, the chief executive of an Australian aviation institution said in Manama last night.
An unprecedented global boom in aviation and huge demand for pilots means training to be a pilot now offers a more stable career than many academic disciplines, said Australian Wings Academy's Phil Sweeney.
He was speaking as he delivered a presentation at the Crowne Plaza Hotel's Convention Centre designed to showcase the flight school he bought three years ago on Australia's Gold Coast.
He said the industry had weathered the post 9/11 storm and was now making huge advances - meaning it is a better time to be a pilot.
"India and China need 5,000 additional pilots every year in for the next three to five years - we have never seen growth like this in aviation. It is a highly regarded profession all around the world and it is a good career move. Once you have got your licence, you can work pretty much anywhere in the world," he said.
He compared attending a pilot school with that of enrolling at university, pointing out that students only had to study for one year to hold a commercial pilots licence and a first job with an average monthly salary of $4000 compared to spending four years at university and then picking up an average of $1800 per month.
However, he did admit tuition costs were likely to be higher.
Highlighting the huge orders by many regional airlines at a recent airshow, he said with hundreds of new aircraft destined for the Gulf, newly qualified pilots would not have any problems finding employment in or next to their home country.
"Each aircraft needs six to eight sets of crew - so one plane requires 12-16 pilots to keep it constantly in the air. Multiply each of these big orders in the region by 12 or 16 and you will see there is certainly are a lot of pilots needed in the Middle East," he said.
111/07/07 Mark Summers/Gulf Daily News, Bahrain

Depleting services in Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Indian (Airlines) has created severe financial strain for its 179-cabin crew, constituting 25 per cent of its 700-strong work-force. Even as Air-India and Indian head for merger, these personnel are at crossroads as the carrier fast withdraws aircraft from passenger operations, rendering them idle.
Airline officials say all the 11 Boeing 737-200s from its fleet of 15 would be out of passenger operations in four months. One aircraft has already been converted into a freighter and four more scheduled in the next few months. The rest would be phased out. By the end of this year, Alliance Air would take on lease six Canadian Regional Jets and five ATR aircraft to replace its ageing Boeings.
“Mumbai region is worst affected. The senior cabin crew operating out of here are clocking only 22 hours of flying a month as compared to 90 hours earlier. Their flying allowances have dropped drastically to few thousand rupees making it difficult for them to service housing loans and meet other financial commitments,” said Anish Mitra, General Secretary, All India Alliance Air Employees Union.
A senior cabin crew member with 10 years of experience draws a basic salary of Rs 10,000 and is entitled to an additional Rs 280 for every hour of flying.
10/07/07 Lalatendu Mishra/Hindustan Times

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has dismissed a batch of petitions filed by a group of Air India employees seeking quashing of the workers' promotion policy 2004, which had lowered down the percentage for promotion of eligible officers from 50 to 30 per cent.
Justice Kailash Gambhir, in a recent judgment, has rejected the contention of the employees that the promotion process under the policy was arbitrary as the panel, set up to select the eligible officers, had tampered with the annual performance appraisal reports of some of the officers and had given them promotion.
"The selection process had solely comprised of taking into consideration the Annual Confidential Report (ACR). The criteria have been uniformly applied in the case of all candidates, and therefore, the same cannot be held as arbitrary and irrational," the court said.
It was alleged by employees that due to the arbitrary policy eligible officers were not promoted to the postas the promotion panel had discriminatory awarded marks to the officers.
11/07/07 PTI/Economic Times

With supply far outstripping demand for well-paid airline jobs, cabin crew training schools have sprouted across India, luring aspirants with glossy adverts with often white-skinned models, and a promise of job placements.
Many airlines dismiss them as commercial ventures out to exploit aspirants from small towns, but their growth story continues.
The largest, Frankfinn Institute, has expanded from a single branch four years ago to 79 now, along with 30 information offices in remote areas, and plans to spread in South Asia, West Asia and South Africa.
It has about 15,000 students on its rolls and charges about $2,850 (Rs1,15,140) —nearly as much as many private medical and engineering schools do—to impart non-academic and non-technical training.
“Most of these people would never make it. You can’t groom people lacking in social skills with two-hour classes,” said Vijaya Lukose, head of in-flight services at Air Deccan and author of 10 Steps to Become an AirHostess.
“They are just money-making shops.”
Staff at Frankfinn admit that many of its 15,000 students will not make it as flight attendants.
“The retail industry is booming. Our students have a lot of opportunities as store and service managers,” said personality development trainer Sangeeta Singh.
10/07/07 Parul Gupta, AFP/Livemint

Manila/Mumbai: The Philiippines air accident that killed two Indian trainee pilots when the small planes they were flying collided could affect the booming flying school business. More than a 100 Indian students are slated to acquire a foreign licence this year, up from a mere 49 in 2005. Experts say flying training accidents can be assumed to comprise 25% of all mishaps globally.
The rising number of Indians being involved in such accidents can be blamed on the high cost of training with an instructor in countries like the US, Australia and others. This compels them to fly solo, leading to higher risks in the air.
"For Indian students pursuing pilot training abroad the first factor that matters is time. The faster you finish your training, the better - and cheaper. It's at such times that small hurried decisions lead to big disasters," says a top airline official.
10/07/07 Times of India

Thiruvananthapuram: A teenaged Kerala girl who aspired to be the youngest Indian woman commercial pilot died north of Philippines on Sunday in a crash while learning to fly a Cessna light aircraft.
Trainee pilot Varsha Gopinath, aged 18 years and two months, her instructor Patrick Philip Teruel and another student Reena Salve, also from India, died when their light craft collided with each other over Malolos City north of Manila.
Varsha, who had completed her higher secondary at a city school, used to reside near Thiruvananthapuram international airport and her ambition was to be an astronaut. The commercial pilot licence was the first step towards making it to the big day.
She had joined the course offered by the private Air Titan company in Kochi and she had finished the ground classes two months ago before taking up training abroad.
Pillai said prohibitive training costs in the country made her choose the foreign option.
Varsha had completed nearly 40 hours out of the total 200 flying hours required to earn the wings.
The family received the first message from the company about something amiss but the confirmation came this morning. The company was arranging to reach the body here in a couple of days, said Pillai.
Pillai was the managing director at a private firm in Muscat. Her elder sister is an airhostess with Irish Airlines.
Varsha would possibly have never opted to train abroad had the State Government-owned Kerala Aviation Training Centre (KTAC) flying club here had been functional. Its Chief Flight Instructor, Capt Anand J Bodas, had quit more than a year ago, a sad man.
Says Ratheesh Babu, ground engineer with KTAC: “The pilot instructor quit his job last year after the club, which depends on Government funds, couldn’t manage the finances”.
10/07/07 John Mary/Peninsula On-line, Qatar

Mumbai: She had always wanted to be a pilot. From a humble, middle-class beginning in Dombivli, 24-year-old Reena Salvi had pursued her sky-high dreams all the way till Philippines. There, for five months, she diligently logged in flying hours for her commercial pilot’s licence. During one such session on Sunday, the aircraft Reena was flying crashed into another flight while landing, killing her on the spot.
At the Salvi residence on Monday, Reena’s father Sahebrao Salvi stoically acknowledged condolences from grieving relatives. While mother Shobha was inconsolable, Sahebrao was trying to come to terms with the loss of his eldest daughter.
“I was told that the plane which she was flying solo had crashed into another plane while landing,” said Salvi. The two people inside the other plane also died. Reena had about 110 hours of flying experience under her belt and was on her way to completing the remaining 200 hours by August this year.
“After her HSC, Reena said she wanted to be a pilot. I told her that we could not afford the fees, but she was adamant. Once she made up her mind about something, she never changed it,” said Sahebrao.
Sahebrao, an employee in the Catering Department of Air-India, had overstretched his resources to support Reena’s dream. The going was anything but easy, as Sahebrao had to provide for his other children—son Sandip and daughters Manisha, Alka, Lakshmi and Chitra.
With the support of her family, Reena had completed the theory papers from a flying academy in Delhi and decided to go to Philippines for a pilot’s licence.
09/07/07 N Ganesh/Mumbai Newsline

New Delhi: International awarding body Edexcel has partnered with the Frankfinn Institute of Air Hostess Training in India to provide globally recognised BTEC HNC (Higher National Certificate) qualifications.
With growing pressure to produce employable graduates with globally transferable skills, many education institutions, including Frankfinn, have chosen an Edexcel BTEC course to provide much-needed practical training for a future workforce.
India’s airline industry has experienced substantial growth in recent years, resulting in an ongoing need for trained employees who are able to settle quickly into the workforce.
Frankfinn Institute of Air Hostess Training provides training in aviation, hospitality and travel. Thousands of students have already graduated with BTEC HNC qualifications with a large percentage gaining successful careers with airlines all over the world including British Airways, Emirates and Lufthansa.
Edexcel’s Higher National Certificates (HNC) and the Diplomas (HND) are designed with employers to provide students with skills relevant to the needs of occupation in industry and commerce that are immediately transferable into the workplace Many students use their BTEC HNC and HND qualifications to progress onto degree courses around the world.
09/07/07 Dipayan Mazumdar and Associates/PRLog.Org (press release), Romania

Lagos: To arrest the continuous loss of the nation's pilots to other countries and improve the paucity of skilled manpower in the industry, aviation authorities have decided to train more female pilots and engineers to rejuvenate the industry, which has been predicted to lose more than 70 per cent of its management personnel to retirement and migration in the next five years.
The Director-General of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Dr. Harold Demuren toldaviation correspondents at the weekend that the industry has decided to be training women as pilots and engineers because they are likely to stay and work in Nigeria after their training.
"We've come out with a marshal plan to make sure we have adequate training going on but the sad thing is that even when you train, when they come back, because of our salary structure, compared with what obtains abroad, people particularly from middle East, China, and South-East Asia, India, who are buying a lot of aeroplanes come and take our pilots and engineers," Demuren said.
Demuren stated that experience in the industry had shown that it is male pilots and engineers that are taken away after being trained in Nigeria. "You know, men are like rolling stones, we go all around, but the females, when they are here, they get married, have their children, have their families and they stay," Demuren said, describing the females as "very stable".
09/07/07 Chinedu Eze/This Day/AllAfrica.com, US

Malolos, Bulacan, Philippines: Two light airplanes used in pilot training crashed into a rice field, killing three people in Barangay Ligas here yesterday noon.
Initial reports said the two Cessna planes plunged into the rice field after their wings grazed each other.
Three people, including a female Indian student pilot, were instantly killed in the incident.
Police identified the fatalities as Patrick Phillip Teruel, a flight instructor of Phoenix School of Aviation based in Plaridel town, and student pilots Reena Salve, 25, and Varsha Gopinath, an Indian national.
Teruel and Gopinath were on board a Cessna-150 with body number RP-C-2679, while Salve was on another Cessna with body number RP-C-8696.
The planes took off from an airstrip in Barangay Agnaya in Plaridel, less than 30 kilometers from the crash site.
Bulacan police provincial director Senior Superintendent Asher Dolina said the skies were partly cloudy over Malolos when the crash occurred.
The ATO’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB) chairman Jose Saplan said based on their initial information, the two airplanes collided in midair while cruising at 500 feet.
Saplan said one of the planes took off runway 35 from Plaridel airstrip while the other was supposed to land in the same runway after being cleared for landing.
Witnesses, however, claimed seeing the two airplanes flying alongside each other when their wings grazed before they plunged.
Residents of Bocaue town also saw the two planes flying too close to each other when it maneuvered towards the airspace over Malolos.
The crash was the fifth within four years in the province.
Most of the crashes involved planes owned by aviation schools in Plaridel town, while the others involved Air Force planes and helicopters.
09/07/07 Dino Balabo/Michael Punongbayan, Cecille Suerte Felipe, AP, AFP/Philippine Star, Philippines