Aviation India: Careers

Chandigarh: A new chapter began in the bilateral relations of Punjab and New Zealand as both entered into two Memorandums of Understanding, declaring Waitkere and Amritsar cities as Sister cities and to provide training to Punjab pilots in New Zealand.
In a formal ceremony held here today, representatives of Punjab and New Zealand signed two MoUs in the august presence of Deputy Chief Minister S. Sukhbir Singh Badal and New Zealand delegation led by their Internal Affairs Minister Dr. Richard Worth OBE.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Badal said that Punjab and New Zealand, both agricultural driven economies can have synergies in the area of dairy development and civil aviation. He said that lot of Punjabies have migrated to New Zealand and New Zealand is like second home to them.
Dr. Richard Worth that the New Zealand was ideal place for aviation training as rapidly changing weather in New Zealand gives exposure to pilot to tackle change of weather.
In the second MoU entered between Southern Institute of Technology Aviation Limited (SIT AV) of New Zealand and Patiala Aviation Club (PAC) agreed to cooperate the process of advanced pilot training Invercargill to enable pilots/students who have appropriate pilot qualification in India and to further train toward enhancing these skills in multiengine and helicopter training including aeronautical and aircraft maintenance engineering. It was also agreed to explore feasibility of setting up a helicopter training school in Punjab and their further training in New Zealand for fast track and complete their rotary wing training.
27/02/09 Punjab Newsline

Surat: Bharatsinh Vaghela, younger son of Union textile minister Shankersinh Vaghela, who is also the director of Rainbow Flying Academy Private Limited, is set to launch first pilot training centre in south Gujarat at Surat airport by March end.
The project is worth Rs 10 crore and the centre is already up with the construction of state-of-the-art building and a hanger, which will have three Cessna-172 type aircrafts for training students from Surat and adjoining districts. Talking over the phone from Mumbai, Bharatsinh said, "It was my dream to set up a pilot training academy in Surat. We have been working on this project since last couple of years and finally we are looking forward to its launch by the end of March."
Vaghela, who was at Nava Seva port to claim his three Cessna-172 aircrafts that arrived from the US a couple of days ago, said, "We have found that Surat airport makes for a perfect training ground. With little traffic on this route, training can be conducted without disturbances unlike Ahmedabad."
Sources said that this is the first time that Vaghelas have ventured into flying school business and that too from Surat.
28/02/09 Melvyn Thomas/Times of India

New Delhi: With employees of Alliance Air demanding absorption in their airline's parent company Air India, a parliamentary committee on Wednesday asked the Civil Aviation Ministry to give them priority in any recruitment by the state-owned national carrier.
Noting that AI's wholly-owned subsidiary Alliance Air (AA) had 721 employees, all on contract, the Committee on Petitions criticised the Civil Aviation Ministry for not framing any recruitment policy to manage the affairs of AA.
In its 49th report tabled in Parliament today, it said the engagement of employees on contract or deputation was "purely an ad hoc arrangement" and should not be resorted to in jobs of permanent or perennial nature.
"This situation should not continue indefinitely," it said, adding that the request of AA's contract workers for regular absorption "cannot be rejected merely on the ground that they are contract workers."
Recommending that the Ministry frame a long-term policy in this regard, the Committee said it desired that "for any recruitment in the interim period, the employees working on contract/casual may be given priority."
25/02/09 PTI/Economic Times

New Delhi: ‘‘Senior citizen’’ pilots may eventually be allowed to fly only private planes and not schedule commercial Indian airliners. The government had extended pilots’ flying age in India from 60 to 65 about three years ago due to a severe shortage of pilots, owing to an unprecedented aviation boom then.
But, now, with the boom gone bust and scores of young commercial pilot licence (CPL) holders idling after spending lakhs on their training, a rethink is on in the higher echelons of government. ‘‘The reducing of upper age limit can progressively be considered, depending on the ground situation, for schedule airlines but not for private planes,’’ aviation minister Praful Patel said.
Industry insiders put the number of 60 plus pilots flying Indian carriers between 400 and 500. The aviation boom led hundreds of young students to pursue commercial flying and procure CPL training at prohibitive cost. But, now, with air traffic declining sharply, airlines have reduced their current fleet sizes and cancelled or delayed future delivery of aircraft as well. As a result, there are excess co-pilots and fresh CPL holders are not getting jobs. Moreover, with airlines cutting flights, even active duty pilots are also being paid progressively less.
For instance, one of India’s biggest private airline recently reduced the number of days its pilots must be available from 22 days a month to just 15.
23/02/09 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

Mumbai: Domestic airlines have geared up for a massive recruitment programme for local pilots after civil aviation minister asked carriers this week to replace their foreign pilots by July 2010. Sensing possible shortage of Indian pilots over the next three quarters, full service carriers such as Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines have already sounded out competitors’ pilots.
Jet Airways has nearly 780 Indian and 230 foreign pilots. “We will gradually make Jet Airways a fully Indian-run airline and the process has already started,” said a senior Jet Airways official.
On the other hand, National Aviation Company of India, which runs the national carrier Air India, will be hiring 40 trainee pilots and co-pilots from Indian citizens. An Air India spokesperson said these fresh pilots will also have to execute performance bond after completion of training . Air India is a national carrier and it keeps hiring pilots at regular intervals , he added.
The main concern is that India doesn’t have enough ‘efficient’ pilots, with the expertise and experience to fly large aircraft like Boeing and Airbus . The industry may see cut-throat hiring from competition, said an analyst with a brokerage firm.
Currently, India has about 1,000 foreign pilots in domestic airlines. In 2005, the government allowed airline operators to hire foreign co-pilots , senior pilots or commanders. Directorate General of Civil Aviation last year said 1,490 foreign pilots were given licences to seek work in the Indian civil aviation sector.
Not only full service carries but lowfare airlines are also hiring pilots. Gurgaon-based no-frill carrier SpiceJet ' plans to hire a dozen more in the current fiscal year.
20/02/09 Mithun Roy/Economic Times

A flight school on the DeLand Municipal Airport has closed, leaving students wondering how they will complete their training, or if they will receive tuition refunds Regional Airline Academy abruptly shut down Friday, Feb. 6, according to DeLand city officials and students interviewed by The Beacon.
"The school took the money. Some of the courses they did not give," said Michael Lockman, who identified himself as a former student at Regional Airline Academy, and who first alerted The Beacon about the shutdown.
Lockman said he had been contacted by other current students whose classes had been canceled without warning, and said the school's offices at 1200 Flightline Blvd. had been closed. Lockman said he owes thousands in student loans he borrowed to fund his flight-school training; he is working to organize a class-action lawsuit against the school.
Efforts to contact the school were unsuccessful. Calls to Regional Airline Academy were answered with an automated system. After a caller pressed a number for the Admissions Office, a recorded voice advised messages could be left, but ended with the words, "That mailbox is full. Goodbye."
Airport Manager Nick Landgraff said he learned about Regional Airline Academy's closing Feb. 6. Landgraff recalled the DeLand school's enrollment had increased not long before its closing.
"They closed the Fort Pierce and Mesa, Ariz., [schools] and consolidated to the DeLand location," he said. "They won't answer their calls right now."
When the Fort Pierce branch of Regional Airline Academy closed a few months ago, Landgraff said, there was an influx of training pilots wanting to gain experience in the cockpit.
"Most of the students came from India," he said. "It was a good flight school, and we hate to see it go."
In addition, Landgraff remembered, several employees of Regional Airline Academy had been laid off in December.
Another student, Nathan Downey, said he is one of approximately 100 students suddenly locked out of school.
"I'm a full-time student, and I'm just trying to receive training, and I'm unable," Downey said, noting he owes about $16,000 in student loans. "I borrowed money from Sallie Mae to finish my education. I can't get a job unless I finish, and I have to pay back this loan."
Downey, who said he first came to the school in the fall of 2008, recalled events leading up to Regional Airline Academy closing.
He said he had met with his instructor Feb. 5.
"For the last couple of weeks, I was unable to fly," Downey said. "Your training was basically on hold."
Hours in the air had been steadily reduced to "one flight here and there," he added.
"My last day there was Thursday [Feb. 5]. I came home and did my homework. About 10 o'clock [p.m.], I checked my e-mail, and I got a 'Dear Student' [notice]," Downey said.
In retrospect, Downey said, there were signs of financial trouble, especially in December.
"I found out they stopped accepting students. I thought that was kind of strange. How are they going to stay in business?" he said.
Like Lockman, Downey said he is contemplating a lawsuit against the school.
DeLand Community Development Director Dale Arrington said she, too, learned about Regional Airline Academy's closing Feb. 6, when "I had an anonymous student call me."
She added, "We received no notice on this, at least none that I know of."
Arrington said the school owed money to the city.
"They were behind on their rent. We had sent them a default notice," she said.
Companies, nonprofit organizations and government agencies may own buildings and other improvements on the airport, but the City of DeLand owns the land.
The airport customarily does not sell the land, which was turned over to the city by the U.S. Navy when the Navy closed the DeLand Naval Air Station after World War II.
Landgraff said he and Arrington are trying to arrange for students to receive refunds of their tuition.
13/02/09 Al Everson/Beacon Online News, USA

New Delhi: With airlines getting substantial relief on jet fuel prices, pilot training schools are up in arms against oil companies saying, the prices of avgas, which fuel their twin-seater piston-engined aircraft, are three to four times higher than ATF and are continuously rising.
"We have been writing to the government and the oil companies, but our case has been consistently ignored. While lot of discussion has taken place on ways to reduce aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices, what has been ignored in all these discussions and statistics has been the plight of the flying schools, who use a fuel called '100 LL' (avgas or 100 octane).
This fuel on base price itself is two times or more costlier than ATF," Uday Punj, Managing Director of Chimes Aviation Academy, told PTI here.
He said Chimes, one of the largest pilot training schools in India, as well as other such institutions had written to various government departments, including the oil companies and Civil Aviation Ministry, to reduce the prices of 100 LL but to no avail.
15/02/09 PTI/The Hindu

Bangalore: CAE announced at Aero India that it has begun pilot training at its India-based training centre in Bangalore where Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 Level D full-flight simulators are now fully operational and certified by India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The six-bay centre is located close to the newly-opened Bangalore International Airport at Devanahalli. While training has started in the simulator bay area, construction on the remainder of the centre is currently being completed.
CAE’s training centre is the first independent training centre in India. Its customers include Indian-based airlines Kingfisher Airlines, Indigo and Spicejet. New customers including commercial pilots of the Indian Air Force as well as Go Air have also started training at the centre.
CAE’s Bangalore training centre is part of the CAE-Airbus cooperation. Initially, approximately 1,000 pilots will train per year at the centre. Additional simulators will be added over the next three years to increase capacity as needed. Experienced pilots and new graduates from the CAE Global Academy as well as pilot training academies in India will be able to train at the centre for their type-rating.
In addition to the Bangalore training centre, CAE now provides pilot training in two national flight academies. CAE is the managing partner of the Indian government’s flight training academy, Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi (IGRUA). CAE also has a joint venture with the Airport Authority of India (AAI) for the National Flying Training Institute (NFTI) which is currently training its first classes of cadets.
12/02/09 defpro.news

Training Crue Graphics Inc, a global provider of aviation training products has launched a GA Cooperation Program with various training facilities to produce customized and customer-branded cockpit training posters for pilots-in-training in addition to large format versions for reference purposes to be used by the training facilities. Customer-specific Computer-Based Training (CBT) applications will also become available once the customization process for each school is complete.
January 2009 has seen the initiation of a new era of customized flight training. Some of the flight schools taking part in the Program are Bob Jones University, Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Minnesota State University - Mankato, Utah Valley University and Saint Louis University. Interest is very high at a time when cost cutting measures are being implemented globally.
Flight schools
Enrolling in the program will see their students receive a 50% savings on all branded, personal-sized cockpit training posters while their training departments will receive large format reference training posters and products at no additional cost.'It is my pleasure to announce our GA Cooperation Program to expand the supply of quality aviation training materials for the general aviation flight training sector. We arelooking forward to Sun'n Fun and EAA Air Venture in 2009 to continue forging new partnerships and relationships.”
said Glen Needham CEO, Training Crue Graphics Inc.
Training Crue Graphics Inc. currently provides training aids for over 80 different aircraft types.
Qualified representatives are prepared to assist with the procurement of these products and to answer any questions regarding courseware development, CBT/WBT and customized training solutions that are also available.For more information you can visit our GA Cooperation Program web page or contact a Training Crue Graphics Inc. representative at 416-335-4528.
11/02/09 PRESS RELEASE/Training Crue Graphics, Toronto, Canada

Bangalore: Leading helicopter maker Bell Helicopters has issued a request for proposal to select firms interested in partnering with it to launch a Training Academy in India, a senior official today said.
Speaking to reporters at the Aero India-2009 which began here today, Bell Senior Vice-President Bob Fitzpatrick said that Bell was very focused on India which needed a big pool of pilots but lacked training facilities.
''To improve the situation, we are looking at various Indian companies as potential partners in different capabilities. We are actively exploring setting up a training facility or an academy in India,'' he said.
On helicopter business in India, he said right now Bell had 104 oeprating helicopters in this country and hoped that the growth would continue.
12/02/09 Mangalorean

CFM International said it will work with GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited to develop a maintenance training center in India for its CFM56 engines.
The center will be located at Rajiv Gandhi Airport in Hyderabad, India, according to a news release. It will train mechanics to inspect and repair the CFM56-5B and CFM56-7B engines, which power Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 aircraft.
“Hyderabad is ideally located for attracting airline mechanics and engineers from India and South Asia,” said Paul-Andre Chevin, CFM’s vice president for India, in a news release.
The facility, once fully operational, will be able to train up to 500 people annually, Chevin added.
Evendale-based jet engine manufacturer CFM International is a joint venture between General Electric Co. and Snecma in France.
11/02/09 Business Courier of Cincinnati/BizJournals.com

New Delhi: Delhi-based chartered aviation company, Shaurya Aeronautics has started country's first helicopter simulator training at Safdarjung airport in Delhi. The Sandeep Saraf owned group has formed a new company Shaurya Flight Sim (SFS) with an initial investment of Rs 10 crore.
Simulators training, which involves mock flight training in real life conditions and emergencies in a dummy chopper, offered by SFS would be 40% cheaper than similar training offered overseas. The company has taken certification for the courses from the aviation regulator, Director General of Civil Aviation and negotiating with former Air Deccan chief Gopi Nath's Deccan Helicharters and Heligo Charters to train their pilots in India.
Currently, there are 700 helicopter pilots operating in India who have to go abroad regularly to undertake mandatory flying tests and courses every year. In addition, the market requires another 350 helicopter pilots given the existing demand.
SFS chief operating officer Manish Kumar said, "We are the first aviation facility in Asia offering simulation courses for Bell 206 and Bell 407 helicopters in all weather conditions and aviation emergencies. All these training devices are also approved by the American aviation regulator FAA and we are also looking at huge business opportunity in South East Asia and Middle East."
11/02/09 Chanchal Pal Chauhan/Economic Times

Brandon: Brandon Flying Club announced this week that they have expanded their international flight training program. The well known school provides full service training for international students, including accommodations at a reasonable price, easy access to the airport and full time training. From ground training to commercial pilot licenses, Brandon Flying Club has made it easy for anyone, anywhere in the world, to earn their pilot’s license.
In addition, the flight training school last less than six months, which means that in many cases, students will not need to apply for a student visa in order to attend the school. This opens up numerous possibilities for those seeking complete training and certification in a short period of time.
The general manager of the Brandon Flying Club stated, “We are pleased to be able to provide flight training to students from around the world. Over the past several decades, we have trained pilots from India and many different corners of the world. We’ve done our best to make it easy for our international students to attend.”
Brandon Flying Club offers step by step assistance during the enrollment process to ensure that foreign students get the help they need for their continuing education. Their combination of low prices, high quality instruction and personal attention ensure that the pilots who graduate from the school will go on to fruitful and lasting careers.
Brandon Flying Club is known as one of the top Canadian flight schools and features state of the art training equipment and facilities. They offer full time flight training, video assisted learning as well as on the ground training. Originally founded in 1929, the flight school has produced top pilots from around the world.
09/02/09 Bignews.biz

New Delhi: The country’s largest private airline, Jet Airways, has firmed up plans to “phase out” some of its expatriate pilots and not fill other vacant positions in the ensuing months as part of cost-cutting moves.
The company will “phase out excess expatriate pilots” over the next few months. It will “not replace staff vacancies which arise due to staff attrition”, according to reliable sources.
When contacted, a company spokesperson confirmed the airline’s decision to trim foreign pilot headcount but declined to give the exact number to be phased-out.
“The excess foreign pilots over the next few months would be phased out depending on the capacity rationalisation undertaken. So we do not have an estimate of the number of pilots at the moment,” she said.
The Naresh Goyal-promoted company has 252 foreign pilots out of a total of 1,350 pilots.
The airline has already announced discontinuation of Mumbai-Shanghai-San Francisco flight, as part of its route rationalisation exercise.
The decision about the foreign pilots comes on the back of their Indian counterparts demanding removal of expatriate pilots from the airline.
As for the other staff, vacancies will not be filled across various departments such as cabin-crew, sales and marketing and administration, the spokesperson said.
09/02/09 PTI/Livemint

Mumbai: Bucking recessionary trends, carriers, such as IndiGo, SpiceJet and Paramount Airways, have set the ball rolling by hiring people across departments since January this year. This includes pilots, cabin crew, airport managers, senior analysts, supervisors and ground instructors. IndiGo, the largest among the budget carriers, will hire up to 50 pilots for its Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune operations.
“We are looking to hire 30-50 captains and the recruitment process should conclude soon,” said IndiGo president Aditya Ghosh. The carrier currently employs 228 pilots for its fleet of 19 aircraft and plans to add 30 more destinations to its network by 2010. Today, it has more than 100 flights connecting 20 domestic destinations and accounts for a market share of 14.7%.
Joining IndiGo is Gurgaon-based SpiceJet that hired pilots — including expats — last month, with another round of hiring expected to be completed by March. It plans to increase the number of flights by a fifth in the current fiscal and double the frequency on routes like Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai. The number of daily flights will increase to 120 from 98 at present in 20 cities.
Chennai-based Paramount Airways has released recruitment advertisements for pilots, cabin crew, airport managers, inflight supervisors and ground instructors. The carrier, which is expanding its fleet, has a network of 12 destinations in the country.
Although, the global economic economic scenario is gloomy, the trigger for the aviation sector has come in the form of a 60% drop in aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices since last September, according to experts.
Those in the training business are understandably relieved.
05/02/08 Mithun Roy/Economic Times

New Delhi: She was manoeuvring the refreshments trolley down the narrow aisle in economy class, when she suddenly felt a hand brush against her thigh. Pallavi (name changed), a 22-year-old air hostess with Jet Airways, had no choice but to carry on with her duties, seemingly unruffled by the humiliation. "I turned around and saw an elderly man who had probably touched me, but there was absolutely nothing I could do about it,'' she says.
A young and glamorous cabin crew, traversing both domestic and international skeis, encounters a variety of in-flight provocations. The recent bid to hijack an IndiGo Airlines flight by three passengers who were inebriated and behaving aggressively, reinforces the stereotypes associated with the Indian flyer, especially men: "They have money, but no manners.''
Bindu Ramachandran, aviation trainer with Frankfinn Institute of Air Hostess Training, and ex-cabin crew with Singapore Airlines, recalls with horror a flight on which a "totally smashed'' passenger from Chennai asked for more liquor. "I still remember he was drinking cognac. I told him, gently, that I could only offer him a non-alcoholic beverage. He couldn't handle the refusal, so he started spitting and using abusive language.'' Far from being intimidated, Bindu informed the rest of the cabin crew serving in economy: "There were eight of us we surrounded him and told him if he didn't stop hurtling obscenities, we'd have him arrested when we landed. That sobered him.''
Young recruits at institutes like Frankfinn are often from small towns and need extensive counselling to deal with a job that promises only the good things travel and money in glossy brochures.
For touchy-feely passengers, Bindu suggests a firm reprimand that draws the attention of the rest of the cabin: "Girls should say, `Please don't touch me', loud enough for everyone else to hear. That usually embarrasses shady passengers.''
Ishita (name changed) flying to Mumbai on a JetLite flight teeming with the `educated elite', recalls a passenger who called out to her with a rude "Hey!'' Taken aback by the bad attitude, she ignored him until he called out again. "I went up to him and told him that my name was written on my badge. He should either address me politely by name, or press the service button. He apologised.''
Savita (name changed) a 23-year-old aboard a SpiceJet flight, is still shaken by the sudden aggression of a 40-year-old man, travelling from Ahmedabad to Delhi: "I was serving candy and he grabbed the whole basket and stuffed the candy into his bag. It was disgusting.''
Sapna Gupta, founder and director of Air Hostess Academy Pvt Ltd, says categorically:"....in our country, girls grow up being eve teased in buses, on the streets, everywhere. So most of them can deal with it, even before we formally train them.''
03/02/09 Radhika Oberoi/Times of India