Aviation India: Careers

New Delhi: Avalon Aviation Academy, the aviation training wing of Aptech Limited, a Global learning Solutions Company, has tied-up with Karnataka State Open University to offer a Diploma in Airport Management and Customer Care.
For the first batch starting Feb 2008, the admissions are currently on at the various Avalon Aviation Academies across the country.
This Course is a part time one year diploma that comes with a Dual Certification. The student gets a Karnataka State Open University Certification and also an Avalon Aviation Academy Certification on the completion of the program.
The course focuses on enhancing human asset quality and productivity, and inculcates business and customer orientation specifically attuned to the requirements of the aviation industry.
After doing this Diploma Course, students can move into any of the areas – viz. Cabin Crew, Airport Professionals (in the management cadre), Reservation Agents, Marketing Executives & Business Development Executives in Destination Marketing, Business Development Managers for Passenger Sales – Airlines, Fare Desk Executives, Tour Planners, Tour Operators, Tour Escorts, Logistics Managers & Cargo Executives and Managers, Finance Executives and Managers for Airports and Airlines, Load & Trim Managers, E-Commerce Solutions, Air Cargo, Freight & Forwarding, Material Operations Management, etc.
29/01/08 India PRwire (Press Release)

Arizona-based Sabena Airline Training Centre (SATC) has received US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval to offer Eclipse 500 type rating pilot training at the company’s Falcon Field facility in Mesa, Flight International has learned.
A subsidiary of Belgium-based Sabena Flight Academy, SATC is the first training provider outside of Eclipse Aviation cleared by the FAA to offer the type rating course. Training will begin in March with two to four pilots candidates completing the course every three weeks, according to Kris Van den Bergh, managing director and training chief for the company.
By June, SATC hopes to begin training as many as six to eight pilots every three weeks once a second leased Eclipse 500 comes online. Training will take between 10 and 15 working days to finish, depending on the pilot’s experience, Van den Bergh tells Flight.
SATC currently trains more than 400 pilots per year for European and Indian airline customers at the Mesa facility, using a fleet of 40 single-engine Piper and Diamond training aircraft that accumulate some 75,000 flying hours a year.
28/01/08 John Croft/Flightglobal.com

Satish, a young Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) holder, is tense. He completed his pilot training last year from Phoenix after spending Rs 24 lakh. But despite applying to various airlines in India, he hasn't got a single call. "There are too many CPL holders in the market," he says. "I am getting desperate — I took a loan to fly and interest alone is Rs 15,000 monthly."
Anand did his CPL from San Diego and was in the same boat. A spate of written tests, interviews...."The job scene is bad and those who roll out of the conveyor belt after a year will face huge competition," he says.
That's the sad truth for pilot aspirants — it's no longer a cakewalk. Rather, it's a big bazaar out there, and only the best are taken. Airlines confirm that there's been a huge influx of young CPL hopefuls, swamping them in the wake of the aviation boom. And they're getting picky about who they take, unlike two years earlier when walk-in interviews were common and jobs galore.
Ask Anand. "I couldn't get past the written test in most airlines. In Air Deccan, the psychometry test did me in. The toughest test was in AI. The aptitude test had 65 questions to be done in 60 minutes, while the technical paper had 60 questions to be done in 90 minutes," he says. "It was tough."
AI (before the merger) has seen the greatest spurt of CPL holders in recent years. Says Jitender Bhargava, ED, corporate communications, "While in the past two years, the number of CPL applicants was about 50-60, our most recent advertisement saw applications swelling to 800. This is possibly because many Indians are undergoing pilot training overseas. Generally, about 20% get selected."
In the erstwhile Indian Airlines, the most recent recruitment saw some 350 applications, out of which 181 were eligible for the written test — 91 qualified and finally, 71 were selected. "We select pilots every 4-6 months. But this time, the number of applications increased two-and-a-half times," says a source. "We normally take about 25 candidates per selection. This time, we had to create two-three batches. I think stagnation is round the corner."
Adds Capt J S Dhillon, EVP, flight operations, SpiceJet, "There's been a glut in the market for CPL holders in the last 6-8 months. Out of 210 candidates called for interviews last year by us, 55 were selected. Though most airlines have ordered more planes, these will be inducted gradually only over the next 10 years. I foresee 50% of CPL holders not getting jobs." Experts also emphasise that the shortage is for commanders as it takes four-five years to become one.
Same is the case in Air Deccan which has been doing interviews every two-three months. In December 2007, some 140 CPL holders came for the written exam, out of which 30-40 were shortlisted for interviews and 25 were selected, says Capt Rajiv Kothiyal, chief pilot.
Also, while earlier 65% was a good enough cut-off percentage for getting selected, now the bar has gone up to 75%.
Another disadvantage for fresh CPL holders is that some airlines have started their own cadet programmes. Take SpiceJet. Its cadet programme was started one-and-a-half years back. Fresh students are sent abroad for CPL training every quarter. "
However, there's some hope. Jet and Kingfisher are recruiting more CPL holders. Jet holds interviews every alternate month and roughly 45% are selected, say sources. Kingfisher recruited freshers five times last year. Of the 390 candidates who came, 105 were selected, says Rubi Arya, AVP, human resources.
For students reading this, experts have a word of advice: get into flying for the love of it, not for the money. "Many don't have either the aptitude or the inclination. We can make that out during the interview and psychometry tests," says Dhillon.
There's also general aviation (charters, corporate jets, etc) to fall back on. Yes, the money is less than commercial aviation and so is the flying, but it can be a stop-gap arrangement.
So what became of Anand? He got into AI last week. He says, "I feel great. This is better than I had hoped for. I got into a flagship carrier. I know it won't shut down, the training is thorough and pilots are well-looked after. If I had failed to get into an airline, I would have become an instructor in a flying school and kept on trying till my dream came true."
And that's what matters: the passion for flying. "The good guys will always get jobs, glut or no glut. So check your aptitude first," suggests Dhillon.
27/01/08 Shobha John/Times of India

High above a rural stretch of Florida east of Fort Myers, a young student pilot on her first solo flight began to panic.
She had stopped receiving the radio signals that served as her way points in the sky. Now she was lost, and her single-engine trainer was running out of fuel.
Desperation set in.
If her instructor were there, he would have told her to call for help on an emergency frequency. Instead, the student reached for her cellphone and thumbed a text message to a friend, also enrolled at Kemper Aviation flight school near Lantana.
I'm lost, the message read. What do I do?
Moments later, the student's plane crash-landed in a field of tall grass near LaBelle. She emerged with minor injuries.
Soon after that day, Aug. 23, Alain "A.C." Cuvillier, a former flight instructor at Kemper Aviation, said he pulled aside his boss, flight school owner Jeffrey Rozelle.
"The next one," Cuvillier remembered telling Rozelle, "is going to be a fatal one."
The words proved prophetic.
During the next three months, two Kemper students, a veteran flight instructor and an experienced pilot from Pennsylvania would die in two crashes. A third student would survive to file a negligence lawsuit against the school.
After the second fatal crash, Kemper flight instructors who had taken other jobs began to fear for the safety of the friends they left behind.

• Indian student pilot, Swedish flight instructor die in Florida crash
• Pilots were 'in a panic situation' before crashing west of Boynton Beach
• Student pilot in Saturday's crash hoped to fly in India
• Indian student's death: Faulty fuel filter suspected in US plane crash
• Another Indian pilot student die in US crash
• Planes collided over Everglades: Indian student pilots body still missing
• Family grieves for lost son half a world away
• “The door of a plane came off once while he was learning to fly”

Kemper Aviation puts a fleet of aging airplanes in the hands of poorly disciplined students and is a risky place to work and learn, according to interviews with more than a half-dozen pilots who fly or flew for the school as instructors. Federal crash reports and court documents at least partially support the instructors' assessment.
The pilots portrayed a climate of tension and anxiety that arose from flying planes that reeked of gasoline or had sputtered and broken down in the past.
They also described a lack of self-control among some trainees; a pattern of behavior that extends from the students' turbulent private lives to the skies above South Florida.
Kemper students have crashed at least four times since September 2006, killing four people and seriously injuring a fifth, federal records show.
That record, accumulated in barely a year and a half, is the worst among flight schools in Florida, one of the nation's busiest states in terms of aviation, according to National Transportation Safety Board data.
Although students from another school, Delta Connection Academy in Sanford, were involved in five crashes to Kemper's four since 2004, those instructors and trainees walked away unharmed or with only minor cuts and bruises, records show.
Rozelle, who took over Kemper Aviation in 2004 with a partner, Akshay Mohan, said his flight school's planes aren't the prettiest, but they are inspected rigorously and held to high safety standards.
"I take my son up and my family up at times, and I wouldn't do it if I felt it was unsafe," Rozelle said.
He said the recent crashes probably spooked his instructors but contended that each incident could be traced to pilot error.
Even so, some current and former Kemper instructors are afraid more of the school's planes will crash if federal regulators, whom observers say are overworked, don't step in.
"I've had situations when the airplanes scared me," said one instructor, who requested anonymity because he still works at Kemper. "It's sad to say, but it just becomes normal working over there."
'It could have ended horribly'
All but three of 21 planes Kemper has used during the past two years were manufactured before 1980; one Cessna, a single-engine 150L, is 37 years old, Federal Aviation Administration records show.
Anders Selberg, 46, one of Kemper Aviation's senior-most pilots, used to listen to the younger instructors' concerns about flying in the school's aging planes.
"He told me, 'The conditions of the planes here are not the greatest. The only thing we can do is check to the extent that we can check and fly the planes,' " said Cuvillier, who left the school in June to fly for Northwest Airlines.
Four months later, Selberg was dead.
He and two students were flying a Piper Archer on a night flight from the Lantana area on Oct. 27 when they reported engine trouble. Over a golf course west of Boynton Beach, the terrain below would have seemed a vast and terrifying black expanse.
The plane clipped a stand of trees before plowing into the course and sliding to a stop on a putting green. Selberg and his copilot, 18-year-old Arjun Chhikara, Arjun Chhikara died instantly.
A second student, 39-year-old Chandrashekhar Godghate, was critically hurt. After his release this month from Delray Medical Center, Godghate sued Kemper, its mechanic service and the Kansas-based company that leased the Piper to the flight school, alleging that the companies failed to properly maintain and repair the plane, among other claims.
An air safety investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board pored over the wrecked Piper and found an extra washer between the fuel filter bowl and its tightening screw, according to his preliminary report. The fuel filter was loose, and "fine-grained black particulate matter was found inside the electric fuel pump and adhering to its screen," the investigator reported. He also noted that the Piper's engine was set to draw from the right wing tank, which contained only about a half-cup of fuel. He has yet to release a final report on the crash.
People at the flight school couldn't believe it. Some instructors left. Others made rules for themselves about the planes, even refused to fly some of them under certain conditions.
Many instructors had their own stories about Kemper equipment.
Interviewed separately, former instructor Andrew Flaxman singled out N105CT as a plane that always smelled of leaking fuel.
The Cessna remains among Kemper's fleet - "It's in airworthy condition," Rozelle said - as do the planes damaged in the recent nonfatal crashes, records show.
Although a Cessna 152 was damaged badly in a botched landing in September 2006 in suburban Lantana, AIM High, a maintenance company co-owned by Rozelle and Mohan, petitioned the FAA to re-register it three months after the crash. The plane's status remains "in question," records show.
Likewise, despite "substantial damage" to the plane the student crashed in LaBelle, Kemper registered the plane with the FAA less than two months after the incident, records show.
On Dec. 8, less than two months after Selberg and Chhikara died, Kemper student Cleon Alvares was killed along with another pilot, 56-year-old Harry Duckworth III, when Alvares' Cessna collided with Duckworth's Piper in a high-traffic training area over the Everglades west of Boca Raton.
The NTSB is investigating the crash, and it's still unclear whether Alvares, 25, or Duckworth was at fault. However, on other occasions, Kemper students have made mistakes or poor decisions, according to federal records and interviews with instructors.
Less than a year before the Kemper student crash-landed in LaBelle, another student smashed the Kemper plane against a runway at the suburban Lantana airport in September 2006. Contrary to FAA rules, the pilot never notified federal authorities about the crash. When an NTSB investigator learned of the incident, he noted the pilot's omission in his report.
Kemper's students, who primarily are young men and women recruited in India, pay more than $35,000 each for training.
Cuvillier chalked up the nonfatal crashes to a lack of training.
Students' poor discipline or lack of judgment sometimes showed itself on the ground, instructors said.
Cuvillier, who lived for a time in the same apartment complex as the Kemper students - who pay about $750 a month to sublet space from the flight school in the Palm Club apartments on Second Avenue North west of Lake Worth - said it wasn't unusual for him to catch pupils drinking or smoking marijuana.
"There's no control," Cuvillier said. "There's no supervision."
In another instance last year, a mechanic smelled marijuana smoke in the cockpit of a Kemper plane two students had just returned.
Rozelle said the students told him the odor came from clove cigarettes. Both pupils were suspended. One left the school to finish his training in California, Rozelle said. The other stayed on and graduated.
"A lot of these kids are 18, 19 years old, it's the first time they've ever been away from home, they're in a new country, it's kind of like the college years," Rozelle said.
The school still is working out how to deal with young students, he said.
After the fatal crash on Dec. 8, Kemper instructors were certain the FAA would step in.
"We all said, 'OK, this is it. Now they're going to shut it down,' " said the instructor who requested anonymity.
But since Alvares and Duckworth died, federal regulators have taken no action against the school, records show.
"We haven't been cited by the FAA as far as doing anything wrong," Rozelle said.
Any flight school that records two fatal crashes in less than three months should draw immediate FAA scrutiny, said Mary Schiavo, former inspector general of the U.S. Department of Transportation. And in cases of schools racking up multiple crashes, the FAA has the power to revoke certification on an emergency basis.
"Not only is it possible the FAA is missing something, but it's obvious they're missing something, and it's because they're spread so thin," said Schiavo, now a private practice attorney based in Mount Pleasant, S.C. "They could have shut their doors in a heartbeat."
The FAA has 182 general aviation inspectors to police 66 flight schools in Florida. In addition, these inspectors renew pilot certificates, oversee air shows and investigate crashes.
Schiavo said that workload translates to a self-regulating industry.
"It's up to the operator to maintain a level of safety. All the FAA can do is spot-check," she said. "They are woefully understaffed for inspections."
Although instructors said they often raised maintenance concerns with Rozelle and Mohan, federal regulators cited Kemper for maintenance problems only three times in the school's 18-year history. Most recently, Kemper was fined $1,000 for a maintenance problem detected in 2000 - four years before Rozelle and Mohan took over.
Meanwhile, the FAA has a record of only one crash - the September 2006 botched landing - involving Kemper planes since the school opened.
27/01/08 MICHAEL LaFORGIA/Palm Beach Post, United States

DGCA has published the list of admitted candidates for January 2008 special session of AME Licence Examination (Delhi, Mumbai, Others). The examination is for those who applied in October 2007.
Here is the schedule of exam and the list of candidates:

• Delhi
• Mumbai
• Others

DGCA directs the candidates to download the respective pfd document in which their name appears, as proof of their candidature. For exam, the candidates should take with them a PHOTO-ID card also. (Airport Entry card; or Passport or any photo ID card issued by Central /State Government).
Candidates may contact the following Regional Airworthiness Offices, for Venue of their written examinations.

• Bangalore: Phone- 080 -25228475
• Bhopal: 0755-2641396
• Bhubaneswar: 0674-2406030
• Chennai: 044-2560179
• Delhi: 011-24617623, 24623474
• Hyderabad: 040-27763038
• Kolkata: 033-25119170, 25118025
• Lucknow: 0522-2435402
• Mumbai: 022-26157187, 26157331
• Patna: 0612-2223358
• Thiruvananthapuram: 0471-2501593

DGCA have invited comments from all concerned operators and relevant agencies/ organizations on the proposed CAR (Civil Aviation Requirements)/amendments regarding approval of aviation training organizations giving training in the field of Aircraft Maintenance Engineering for obtaining Basic license in the following streams:

• Mechanical stream (Fixed wing), comprising of Light Aeroplanes (LA), Heavy Aeroplanes (HA), Piston Engine (PE) and Jet Engine (JE).
• Mechanical stream (Rotary wing), comprising of Rotary Wing Aircraft (RA), Piston Engine (PE), and Jet Engine (JE).
• Avionics stream, comprising of Electrical System (ES), Instrument System(IS), and Radio Navigation System (RN).
  

The CAR topics include, the requirements the institutes should meet before approval is granted; Criteria of admitting students to the proposed institute; Period of training, Nature of examinations; Way of maintaining records etc.

Download the full notification from here or here.

(The link at the 'New and Updated' page of DGCA website pointing to the notification presently is wrong. The webmaster got the link all mixed up, it seems. Instead of http://dgca.nic.in/misc/draft%20cars/car_notice14.htm, the link attached is file:///D:/tuhi%20June%202004/Web/mainpage/misc/draft%20cars/car_notice14.htm).

Comments should reach DGCA by 25th February 2008 by e-mail at rpsahi@dgca.nic.in or by snail mail addressed to “R P Sahi, Joint Director General, Office of the Director General of Civil Aviation, Opp. Safdarjung Airport, Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi – 110 003”.

Investigators are recommending that pilots be trained more rigorously to fly with sole reference to standby instruments following a serious incident in which a British Airways Airbus A319 suffered an extensive loss of electrical power.
The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch has also advised BA to review its reporting procedures after the inquiry team learned about the incident only six days later, the jet having remained in service in the meantime.
After a two-year investigation, the AAIB has been unable to determine the reason for the power loss, which affected the jet's left-hand electrical network, shortly after it departed London Heathrow for Budapest on 22 October 2005. But it suspects one of the generator control units detected a false electrical current differential-protection condition.
Failure of the network caused the loss of both pilots' primary flight and navigation displays, the upper electronic centralised aircraft monitor (ECAM) display, cockpit lighting, the radio and the intercom. The auto-thrust and autopilot also disconnected.
If the primary displays are unavailable, the A319 can be flown on standby instruments - including a horizon, altimeter, airspeed indicator and compass - but the AAIB says: "The flight crew had not received any formal training on how to operate A320-family aircraft by sole reference to the standby instruments."
21/01/08 David Kaminski-Morrow/Flight International

Delta Connection Academy made history on January 4, 2008 when Steven Harden became the first flight school student pilot nationwide to complete the 141 FAA/Industry Training Standards (FITS) program designed to increase aviation safety, reduce the number of accidents and improve pilot skills and decision making in technically-advanced aircraft.
The new FITS program focuses on a redesigned training platform for aviation. For years, student pilots were taught how to pass a practical test -- rather than practical operation.
With the introduction of the 141 FITS program, Delta Connection Academy student pilots now focus on real-world, scenario-based training that enhances aeronautical decision making, risk management, and single pilot resource management skills. Instead of treating each element as a separate or stand-alone lesson, scenario-based training efficiently integrates these important concepts into every instructional exercise.
A wholly-owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, Delta Connection Academy operates a fleet of more than 115 aircraft, including the latest in technically advanced aircraft with new Cirrus SR20 G2 aircraft and AeroSim Technologies Flight Training Devices. The Academy has trained students from 90 different countries and has placed pilots with 30 airlines.
"I’ve had both traditional and now FITS training and without a doubt the FITS is a much better, more realistic approach to flight training," said Harden.
22/01/08 Aero-News Network, FL, USA

The Federal Aviation Administration has certified Eclipse Aviation Corp.'s first flight simulator, manufactured by Florida's Opinicus Corp.
The simulator received Level D Full Motion Device certification -- the highest qualification the FAA grants for simulators, allowing Eclipse to type certify student pilots without having to train in the Eclipse 500 jet.
Eclipse has now initiated the certification process for its part 142 syllabus and integration of the simulators and learning environment. This second part of certification is scheduled to conclude in late January, at which time Eclipse will conduct its first simulator training class for customers.
Eclipse CEO Vern Raburn said receiving a Level D certification on the first attempt is unprecedented for a new aircraft maker.
Eclipse expects to have three Full Motion Level D simulators in customer operation by April, with the second device slated to receive certification in February and the third one in March.
Eclipse continues to use a Flight Training Device for cockpit procedures training, flight skills assessment and to augment training and improve proficiency.
19/01/08 New Mexico Business Weekly/Charlotte Business Journal, NC, USA

The list of 50 candidates found suitable in the personal interview for the post of Airline Attendant for Air India Express is published by NACIL.
Those whose names appear in list should attend a Pre-Employment Medical Examination, letters with the details of which are being sent.
In case candidates whose names are in this list but do not receive the letters by January 21, 2008, may contact Mr. D R Khapre on telephone on (022) 26265272.

The station wise list of candidates may be downloaded from here (Microsoft Excel) or here (Pdf).
21/01/08

Mumbai: Hundreds of aspiring pilots are looking beyond India’s borders for their training. Not too long ago, they chose to stay closer to home, where flight academies were substantially cheaper than those abroad. Against an aviation boom and intense demand for pilot’s licences, that has changed.
Now, several academies overseas boast special sections on their websites to attract Indian students, while others are partnering with Indian schools.
But while students are turning to overseas options because they hope to get their training and licence quicker, they find themselves in for a long wait upon their return: exams to convert their foreign licences into Indian commercial licences are held only every three months. And regulations demand that conversions be done within six months—meaning, if students don’t pass, they likely have to leave again for training.
According to the Federation of Indian Airlines, or FIA, a lobbying body of domestic carriers, the unmet demand for pilots in the Indian aviation industry is at more than 4,500. To cope with the shortfall, many airlines have hired foreigners to fly their planes.
Earlier, Indian flying schools had a cost advantage, with courses here costing about Rs6 lakh less than similar courses overseas.
Today, aviation courses in India can cost anywhere between Rs10 lakh and Rs18 lakh, while a similar course in the US could cost Rs18 lakh (about $45,000).
19/01/08 Jeetha D’Silva and P.R. Sanjai/Livemint

New York : IndiGo Airlines and Sabena Flight Academy, which has offices in Brussels, Belgium, and in Arizona, USA, have signed a long term 'Pilot Training Services Agreement'.
Under the agreement, Sabena will train Indian pilots for IndiGo in its subsidiary, Sabena Airline Training Centre in Arizona, as well as offer its simulator facility in Brussels for "multi crew cooperation and type rating course" on A320 aircraft.
Pointing to Sabena's reputation for providing world class pilot training, Steve Harfst, IndiGo's chief operating officer, said: "Their focus on safety and their new fleet of glass-cockpit equipped Diamond aircraft will ensure that our cadet pilots will get the best training available as they work toward earning their commercial pilot licences."
Sabena's President and CEO Jack Waldeyer said that they were already training over 200 Indian pilots in Arizona.
Selection tests for IndiGo-Sabena cadet programme will be held in different cities in India.
17/01/08 IANS/Indian Muslims, US

Dubai Aerospace Enterprise University (DAE University), the education and training arm of Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, will conduct a series of road shows in major Indian cities from January 18, 2008 to familiarize Indian students with international aviation education options.
Positioned to compete with the largest and best known aviation and aerospace universities worldwide in terms of programme offerings and industry influence, DAE University courses offer students the opportunity to study engineering and management focused on aviation and aerospace in a world-class environment. The roadshows will demonstrate how the Dubai-based university's tailored academic programs can provide a high-level entry to promising career opportunities in the region for both undergraduates and post-graduates.
The University is targeting students whose ambitions are careers - from technicians and pilots to supervisors and managers - in airlines, airports, aircraft and aviation services businesses and aerospace design, engineering and manufacturing.
The roadshows build on the strong student response to the orientation initiatives undertaken by DAE University in India last year. The first batch of DAE University - comprising students from around the world - will graduate in 2011-12. The roadshows will introduce students to the new educational programmes offered by DAE University, including the DAE Flight Academy scheduled to open in March 2008.
DAE University offers Bachelors and Masters programmes in the areas of Flight and Aviation Management, Business Administration, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, Airport Management, Air Traffic Control, Logistics and Aviation Maintenance Management.
16/01/08 AME Info (press release), United Arab Emirates

Kingfisher Airlines is conducting walk-in interviews at Mumbai to select Cabin Crew and Experienced Cabin Crew- Inflight Managers.
The minimum educational qualification for Cabin Crew is HSC with fluency in English.
Should have a minimum height of 160 cm and proportionate weight. Age between 18 to 27 years. Candidates should be medically fit.
The age limit for Experienced Cabin Crew- Inflight Managers is 20 - 32 years. They should have worked with a full service airline for a minimum of 2 years.
The interview will be at:
Kingfisher Training academy, Time square, Between Sai Service & Popular Car Bazar, Western Express Highway, Andheri (E), Mumbai.
Walk-in between 10.00 hrs & 16.00 hrs on 19 & 20th of January with detailed resume, dressed in western formals (knee-length skirt). And also carry a passport size & a full size photograph too in the stipulated dress code.
For details of other existing opportunities, visit the airline's site.
17/01/08

GoAir is now doing recruitment for the following posts:

Qualified Pilots
Qualification: DGCA approved rated pilots on A-320

Instructor, aircraft systems & performance
Qualification: DGCA approved Instructor-Aircraft Systems & performance on A-320

DGM/Sr. Manager (OCC) & (Flight Dispatch)
Qualification: DGCA approved Flight Disp, RT License, preferably A-320

GM, product quality assurance
Qualification: Experience in product quality/assurance/commitment in major airline

The applications may be mailed to akanksha@goair.in

17/01/08

Wichita, KS, USA: Cessna Aircraft Company, a Textron Inc. company, has appointed its first Cessna Pilot Center in India, selecting Touchwood Aviation Academy, Raipur (a unit of Touchwood Entertainment Ltd). Cessna Pilot Centers are independently owned and are the only flight schools to use Cessna's integrated computer-based instruction - a unique method of teaching ground school that is easy, thorough and fun. Students using this course complete their private pilot's certificate in an average 54.5 hours, almost 30 percent less than the national average in the United States. All Cessna Pilot Centers operate fully insured, new Cessna 172 aircraft that are currently under factory warranty.
Touchwood Entertainment Ltd operates on a five-acre complex in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India. The 10-year-old company started aviation-related activities in 2004 by offering ground handling services for airlines and private air operators, and it began offering flight training in 2007.
In addition to the newest center, there are nearly 300 Cessna Pilot Centers in nine countries, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Jamaica, Mexico, South Africa and the United States.
16/01/08 Press Media Wire (Press Release), VA, USA

Hamburg: Worldwide demand for aircraft pilots is at a record level, with 17,000 new pilots required every year, a German trade magazine, Aero International, said Tuesday. It based the figure on hirings and quoted a study by US planemaker Boeing predicting the number of airliners in use around the world would double from 18,230 last year to 36,420 in 2026.
To fly them all, 363,000 people would have to train as pilots in the next two decades, the Boeing study indicated.
The current shortage is prompting rapidly expanding Asian and Middle Eastern airlines to headhunt pilots from small Western airlines which cannot match the big airlines' pay and special bonuses.
Erhard Walther, chief executive of a Hamburg, Germany pilot recruitment company, Hamburger Interpersonal, forecast a slight easing in demand from 2009.
He said demand was currently so high that flying schools could not hire enough teachers, because staff were being poached to work behind the joystick.
"It's not just in the Gulf that the industry is growing fast, but in Asia too, particularly India. The Indian carriers pay very high salaries."
15/01/08 DPA/Earthtimes, UK

Chandigarh: A spokesman of the Haryana Civil Aviation Department said that airstrips at Narnaul, Hisar, Bhiwani, Karnal and Pinjore would be given on lease for setting up flying training academies, aircraft maintenance workship etc. by private companies.
He said that three flying training centres of Haryana Institute of Civil Aviation were established at Hisar, Karnal and Pinjore where flying and gliding training was provided to the boys and girls for obtaining Private Pilot License, Commercial Pilot License, Glider Pilot License, Aircraft Maintenance Engineers License and Flight Instructor Rating on aircraft. Besides, the scholarship and concessional flying and gliding had been proivided to boys and girls having state domicile and grant-in-aid to Haryana Institute of Civil Aviation.
He said that the institute had fixed a target of 4500 flying hours and 6000 gliding launches for the current financial year, Of these, the institute had achieved 2451.35 hours and 4272 gliding launches upto December 2007.
The spokesman said that the Haryana Institute of Civil Aviation had provided 2011 parasailing sorties and 818.50 hours simulator training to the students during the year 2006-07 while 1611 parasailing sorties had been given during the current financial year.
14/01/08 PunjabNewsline.com

Sepang: AirAsia Bhd, following the RM40 million expansion plan for the second phase of its academy, is expected to produce up to 5,000 pilots yearly from the current 400 pilots.
"The academy is our best moment because this is for the future," said AirAsia Bhd's group chief executive officer Datuk Tony Fernandes.
"It also shows Malaysia's capability as we train pilots from all over the world," he told reporters after signing a partnership agreement with CAE.
The second phase of the academy, which is expected to be completed in June this year, will see additional classrooms, multi-purpose halls, a swimming pool and other facilities.
Fernandes added that the academy had already trained pilots from the Middle East, India, China, the Philippines and Singapore.
Meanwhile, CAE announced that it has selected Kuala Lumpur for its Southeast Asian training hub.The company, based in Canada, said it would leverage on its existing partnership with AirAsia to develop an aviation centre of excellence and expand within the region.
CAE will deliver world-class aviation training to pilots, maintenance technicians and cabin crew for airlines across Southeast Asia, and Kuala Lumpur will be its regional hub for the Multi-Crew Pilot Licence and Airbus Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) training.
CAE's group president of innovation and civil training and services, Jeff Roberts, said Southeast Asia was currently facing a shortage of pilots, adding that more than 1,000 pilots were needed annually in the region over the next 20 years.
Currently, the academy is equipped with three simulators -- two CAE-built Airbus A320s belonging to AirAsia and a Boeing 737-300 owned by CAE.
14/01/08 Bernama, Malaysia

New Delhi: In a move to pave the way for desi pilots, Indian carriers will now be able to hire foreign pilots only by submitting a phasing out plan for them, as also making clear the induction and training plans for Indian fliers.
DGCA norms stipulate that there should be three sets of crew (a pilot and co-pilot) for each aeroplane but scheduled Indian carriers keep five sets. With India having 312 planes, the total current strength required is about 3,120.
"Of the 3,120 pilots required, 804 are foreigners. Some airlines face a shortage because they hire commercial pilot licence holders but don’t train them for several months, making them captive fliers," said a senior official.
On their part, airlines say they would hire Indian pilots depending on the availability.
"DGCA has issued a circular on the issue, asking all airlines' their plan for phasing out expat pilots. We will employ as many Indian pilots as available. But given the growth projections, airlines may not be able to have just Indian fliers," said Kingfisher's executive vice president Hitesh Patel.
SpiceJet's executive chairman Siddhantha Sharma said a number of Indians were working as first officers and would be upgraded to captain’s post as and when they get the required experience.
Foreign pilots are allowed to fly in India under the "foreign air crew temporary authorization (FATA)" given by the DGCA. This is initially a two-year permission to fly here, a period that can be extended later.
DGCA's swadeshi flight comes at a time when the US has also relaxed its upper age limit for flyers. Following the Indian rules, it has also allowed a pilot to fly till the age of 65 but subject to the condition that one of the two pilots in the cockpit is below 60. This move, said industry sources, could either stem the flow of old pilots from US and even see some of them flying in India returning home.
13/01/08 Times of India

San Diego, USA: A flight school that caters to foreign students is under investigation by immigration authorities on suspicion of sponsoring student visas while it lacked Federal Aviation Administration certification.
Anglo-American Aviation International, San Diego, resumed flying at Gillespie Field in suburban El Cajon Friday after immigration agents returned logbooks. The school voluntarily shut down after agents executed search warrants Monday and seized the records.
No arrests have been made.
The 15-year-old school caters primarily to students from Europe and India.
The flight school allowed its FAA certification to lapse last year, said agency spokesman Ian Gregor.
Flight schools are required to have FAA certification to sponsor foreign students for flight training in the U.S., said ICE spokeswoman Lauren Mack. Visa applications are subject to State Department background checks.
The school has no links to flight training facilities used by the Sept. 11 hijackers.
"Any time this kind of violation occurs we're going to make sure we do a very thorough investigation including any possible security breaches," said Mack. "But the investigation is ongoing and it would be premature to make any terrorism link."
11/01/08 Allison Hoffman/Associated Press/San Jose Mercury News, USA

New Delhi: In a glittering ceremony held in the Capital today to mark the occasion of successful completion of 10 years since inception of Air Hostess Academy (AHA), Smt Ambika Soni, Hon’ble Minister of Tourism and Culture unveiled AHA’s Winning Strategies: Serving with a Smile, the first authoritative handbook on building successful careers in aviation and hospitality management authored by Ms Sapna Gupta, Founder and Director Air Hostess Academy (AHA). Hon’ble Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) Mr. Rajeev Shukla also graced the momentous occasion of book launch as the Guest of Honour.
Air Hostess Academy (AHA) pioneers of aviation and hospitality training in India and largest provider of skilled manpower pool to the services industry (aviation and hospitality) kicked off celebrations of their 10 years of Flying Success with the launch of this book.
The text book ‘Winning Strategies: Serving with a Smile’ by Ms Sapna Gupta highlights the aspects of soft skill training for the service industry with a specific focus on aviation and hospitality. The book published in an interesting and interactive format contains snap exercises, easy to do, self administered psychometric tools and survey instruments that help the reader gain a good insight.
Starting from a small learning center, Air Hostess Academy (AHA) with Ms Gupta’s vision and quest for providing quality training in aviation and hospitality management, AHA today reaches out to approx 8,000 – 10,000 students in 32 centres across India. A pioneer in its field, AHA was the first to realize the untapped potential of the service industry and has since been a ready source of skilled manpower for the entire service sector.
10/01/08 India PRwire (Press Release), India

Thiruvananthapuram: With the arrival of the second four-seater Cessna aircraft on Wednesday, flying training for pilot aspirants will commence at the Rajiv Gandhi Aviation Academy here within two months.
Announcing this at a press meet here after receiving the new aircraft that came from Hyderabad, Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs M. Vijayakumar said the two four-seaters were purchased for Rs. 2 crore. The academy will get another Cessna free of cost from the Aero Club.
The Minister said Capt. T. J. Joseph, who took voluntary retirement from the Indian Air Force, would be Chief Flight Instructor of the academy. Ground school, class room and library for 20 students had been set up in a rented building on the side of the NH-47 bypass at Enchakkal. Compared to the Rs. 23 lakh charged by private institutions, the government-controlled academy would charge Rs. 14 lakh as fee.
The admission will be through a State-level entrance test, interview and medical test. The minimum qualification needed is pass in science stream in Pre-degree/Plus Two courses.
Plans are also on to start courses in aeronautical engineering and aircraft maintenance.
10/01/08 The Hindu

Thiruvananthapuram: After lying idle for around 10 years, the Rajiv Gandhi Aviation Academy is all set to spread wings with two new aircraft next month.The state-owned institution has acquired a Cessna Nav and a Cessna Standard aircraft worth Rs 2 crore for imparting training.
The Academy which was shifted from Chakka recently owing to the construction of the new terminal for the airport is now functioning from a rented building at Enchackal.
“Airport Authority of India has allotted 2,500 square metres of land for the Academy. A new building will be constructed on the land at a cost of Rs 10 crore,” Sports and Youth Affairs Minister M.Vijayakumar told a news conference here on Wednesday.
Captain T.J.Joseph has been appointed as the Chief Flight Instructor. Training is expected to begin in February itself, the Minister said.
Twenty candidates will be admitted to the first batch. Admission will be based on a state-level entrance test, followed by an interview and a medical test. The minimum qualification for joining the course is Plus II or equivalent.
The charge for one-hour of flying is Rs 6,500. Around 200 hours of flying is required to obtain a commercial pilot licence. The candidates should remit a sum of Rs 50,000 as the fee for ground school.
10/01/08 Newindpress

Bacolod City, Philippines: The Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod yesterday passed a resolution reiterating its previous stand for the retention of the existing airport in Bacolod City upon the request of the Mayor.
Councilor Alex Paglumotan said the SP had passed Resolution No. 478 strongly supporting the call of Mayor Evelio Leonardia and the Retain Bacolod Airport Movement for the retention and improvement of the present airport.
Mayor Leonardia said the move to convert the airport into a flying school elicited favorable response from an Indian investor who is sending feelers that they are interested in the prospect.
Leonardia said that with the shortage of pilots in India , well-trained pilots from the Philippines will be in demand.
Earlier, the Air Transportation Office had announced that it will transfer its office and facilities out of Bacolod airport to Silay as soon as commercial flights start there.
Leonardia said he is hopeful that the petition letter he sent to the Office of the President for the retention of the airport will be favorably considered and that ATO will keep some of its facilities at the old airport.
10/01/08 Chrysee Samillano & Nida Buenafe/Visayan Daily Star, Philippines

Taranaki : The New Plymouth Aero Club is training 11 Indian student pilots, allowing them to gain their New Zealand commercial pilot's licences before returning to India to fly commercial aircraft.
New Plymouth Aero Club chief executive Francis Kuriger said booming economies in countries such as India meant their pilot training schools were losing instructors to commercial airlines and prospective pilots had to look abroad for training.
"The Indian airlines tend to prefer pilots trained in New Zealand and Australia as being of the highest standard," Mr Kuriger said.
The 11 Indians have arrived New Plymouth in stages during the past three months with little flying experience, he said.
Plans are in place for a further 10 Indian students to arrive in March, and Mr Kuriger said there was potential for the arrangement to become ongoing.
The Indians are staying at the Witt hostel and their course lasts about 10 months.
They are being trained on Cessna 152s, Cessna 172s and Partenavia P68s. Flying instructor Tom Price said they are the keenest bunch of students he has ever seen. "Even on the weekends they are here before us," he said. Indian student Amlan Aparajeet, from Orissa in eastern India, said the reputation of New Zealand's flying schools was excellent and he was enjoying his stay in Taranaki.
08/01/08 Ryan Evans/Taranaki Daily News, New Zealand

Everglades plains, southern Florida, US, witnessed yet another crash involving a training aircraft this Sunday. Fortunately both the instructor and the student escaped unhurt this time, unlike the previous two crashes which killed two students from India.

The UPI report of Sunday's crash:

No injuries in Florida plane crash
MIAMI, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Rescuers in southern Florida confirmed the two people on board a small plane that crash-landed in the Everglades Sunday escaped uninjured.Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue told The Miami Herald that by the time paramedics arrived at the crash scene, the plane's two passengers were walking away from the plane.
The unidentified passengers did not appear to be injured and were immediately taken to nearby Tamiami Airport. A Miami-Dade Aviation spokesman told the newspaper the Cherokee Piper 28 was reported to have gone down eight miles from the airport Sunday morning. WTVJ-TV in Miami reported the two pilots were on training mission when the plane's engine suddenly failed, forcing them to make an emergency landing in the Everglades.The cause for the engine failure will be investigated, police said.

Though this report and all the other reports in other publications do not mention the flying school's name, (or the intstructor's and students' identity, for that matter) the N number of the plane - N109ND - crept in to CBS 4 .com report gives it away. A search in FAA data base tells the owner of the fixed wing single engine Piper PA-28-161 built in 1990 is Silver Express, South Florida's well known flight training academy for over 20 years.
According to the schools website, they do have a strong presence in India and Apace Aviation Consultants is their local representative.
The fatal crashes on October 26 and December 6 too were at Everglades and in both accidents the pilot school involved was Kemper Aviation, Florida. Kemper too recruit pilot students regularly from India.

DGCA has revised the list of candidates admitted to the Pilot Licence Examination January 2008 Session. (The first version of the list was published on 31-12-07)
See the revised list for Delhi, Mumbai and other centres.

• Delhi
• Mumbai
• Other

A Hamilton flying school is set to triple its recruits to help fill a world-wide shortage of pilots.
CTC Aviation Training School has already got a good track record for training British cadets and now it plans to increase its New Zealand trainee numbers up from 30 to 100 within the next year.
The Hamilton training ground is a big hit with UK cadets who can get their training more cheaply than back home. In just eight months Englishman Kevin Wainscott is destined to be scooped up by a major European airline - just like his 130 predecessors.
" CTC itself is renowned for being one of the best training facilities in the world so it's fantastic for us to come over here," says Wainscott.
Trainees spend three to four hours a week up in the air and within just 18 months they can be in the right hand seat of a 737.
The school now plans to use its solid international reputation to train more New Zealanders to help fill the pilot shortage.
Chief operating officer Ian Calvert believes Air New Zealand is in exactly the same boat as other airlines around the world.
CTC wants to get major players like Air NZ on board so kiwi graduates have top jobs to move into.
06/01/08 TVNZ, New Zealand

New Delhi: Welcome to the world of hobby flying, the new buzzword in Indian skies. Rising affluence in the country is now spilling onto aviation with more and more Indians buying aircraft—some for practical purposes, others just for kicks.
And mushrooming aviation institutes are busy tapping the sector’s potential, boosted by this trend. Around 50 new private aircraft have been added in the country in the last one year, as per Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) estimates.
For instance, Rajasthan Aero Sports Club is scheduled to start operations by this month end. “Built in a resort-type setup, the academy will train people for PPL, besides starting training for commercial pilot licences (CPL) in May this year,” says club director Anil Thapar.
Ditto for other flying schools. “We, as a company, are encouraging people to buy their own aircraft and go for a PPL to fly planes. A Cessna 172 is ideal to fly for a hobby flier,” says Randeep Panag, director, United Aviation, a Delhi-based flying school.
Travel company Bird Group too has similar plans. Says executive director Ankur Bhatia, “We will be starting our pilot training school this year in north India. Besides imparting training for CPL, we will be targeting those who want to go for a PPL as well.”
To obtain a PPL, one needs to complete at least 40 hours of flying. The training costs around Rs 3-4 lakh, which can be completed in around 6 months.
03/01/08 Economic Times

Air India and Singapore Airport Terminal Services -AISATS (Provider of integrated Ground Handling in India and Singapore respectively. They've formed a JV to provide Ground Handling services to Domestic and International carriers at Bangalore and Hyderabad International Airports) have invited applications for the upcoming project at Bangalore International Airport, Devanahalli, AND at the New Hyderabad International Airport on a three year fixed-term contract as per the requirements and to maintain a wait list.

At the new Bangalore International Airport:
Last date of receipt of application- 16th January 2008.
Vaccancies are in Customer Service (Name of post & number of vacancies: Executive – 2; Officer/Duty Manager – 4; Supervisor - 32; Agent II- 88; Lead Assistant – 6), Ramp Handling (Executive – 3; Officer/Duty Manager – 13; Supervisor - 47; Agent II - 82; Agent I – 52; Lead Assistant – 42), Security Services ( Duty Manager - 2; Supervisor - 5; Agent II - 60),
Maintenance Workshop: (Officer – 1; Supervisory – 3(Maintenance, Quality Control), Agent II – 10), Cargo Operations (No. of Positions: Agent I - 8, Agent II - 59; Supervisor - 5), Admin. Assistant (Agent II - 6).
For all posts, upper Age Limit as on 1/1/2008:General: 35 yrs, OBC: 38 yrs and SC/ST: 40 yrs. For ex-servicemen and physically handicapped persons, age relaxation as per government directives. For deserving candidates with additional experience age relaxation could be considered.
Links to visit:

• The notification
• How to Apply
• Selection Procedure
• General Conditions

At the New Hyderabad International Airport:
Last date of receipt of application: 17th January 2008
Customer Service (Name of post & number of vacancies: Asst Manager – 12; Supervisor - 37; Officer – 100), Ramp Handling ( Asst Manager – 13; Supervisor - 58; Officer - 86; Equipment Operators – 86), Maintenance Workshop ( Asst Manager – 2; Supervisor – 12; Officer - 26; Lead Assistant - 13), Corporate Services ( Manager – 1; Asst Manager – 2; Supervisor – 4; Officer - 5), IT (Asst Manager, Supervisor), Finance: (Supervisor), Human Resource (Supervisor/Officer), Officer - Admin, Assistant (No. of positions: 166).
Common requirements f