Aviation India: Careers

DGCA has invited applications in the prescribed form from candidates for filling up of 72 Group ‘A’ posts in the Civil Aviation Department on short-term Contract basis. Retired Govt. Employees who are below 65 years as on 30.06.2009 can also apply for the said posts. The number of vacancies may change.
The period of contract is likely to be, one year. Details of posts, remunerations, age limits, Educational Qualifications and application form in which applicants are to apply are given in the
DGCA website (www.dgca.nic.in). The posts are available at DGCA Hqrs. and at various Regional Offices like Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Kanpur, Lucknow, Guwahati, Bangalore, Bhopal etc. Preferences of the candidates will be kept in mind at the time of posting.
The applications may be submitted neatly typed on white paper in double space and typed on only one side of paper. The envelope should be superscribed with the following: “Application for the post of _______________ in response to Advertisement No. A. 32013/2/2009-E.II.
Complete applications with enclosures together with a self addressed post card by affixing thereon an additional postage stamps of Rs. 5.00 indicating Advertisement No., Item No. and Name of post should be sent to the
25/06/09 DGCA

DGCA has published the schedule of AME licence exam (June 2009). The exams are o 7th & 8th of July, 2009 at New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Guwahati, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Kanpur, Patna and Kochi. The DGCA notification is here.
The list of computer numbers allotted for flight crew examination was published on June 18. Access the list here.
The results of Pilot Licence Examination, April 2009 Session is also available at DGCA website:

• Delhi Center
• Mumbai
• Others

25/06/09 DGCA

Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited (PHHL) has today signed an MOU with Indian Navy for inducting Naval Pilots into PHHL. The MOU was signed in presence of Real Admiral S.M. Vadgonkar, Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (AIR) and Shri R.K. Tyagi, CMD, PHHL by Commodore Ranveer Singh, of Indian Navy and Shri R.B. Kushwaha, Dy. General Manager of Pawan Hans.
Pursuant to the MOU, Indian Navy will provide suitable pilots who can be spared as per the qualifying requirements in order to meet in part the vacancies created in Pawan Hans due to fleet expansion plan. Such arrangement will promote mutual benefits to both the organisation. Indian Navy will be in better position to offer progression to their younger pilots against these vacancies and thus bring down age profile of their combat force. At the same time the Indian Navy pilots will get opportunity for growth and a longer, fruitful, second career up to 65 years of age. Similarly, PHHL will also be benefitted by augmenting their strength of qualified pilots.
Pawan Hans is now looking forward for a massive fleet expansion as well as to enter in to new areas of operations such as inter and intra city transportation besides setting up a start-of-the-art maintenance centre and also new heliports at Delhi, Mumbai and other viable areas. With the signing of MOU, both organisations will be tied up for a long fruitful relationship. PHHL will initially inducted at least 15-20 pilots from Indian Navy and thereafter about 10 pilots per year in subsequent year.
26/06/09 Press Information Bureau

Australian flying training provider Flight Training Adelaide is in discussions with an unidentified Asian customer and the operator's local regulator on launching a multi-crew pilot licence programme.
Chief executive Keith Morgan told delegates at June's SimTect simulation conference in Adelaide that this is the first time any operator in the region has shown an interest in MPL, the launch of which coincided with the "shortest pilot shortage in aviation history".
Parafield airport, South Australia-based Flight Training Adelaide primarily provides flying training to Asian carriers, including Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, Dragonair, Emirates, JAL Express, Qantas and Vietnam Airlines. Morgan says the Asian operator interested in MPL wants to use a corporate jet for the take-off and landing element of training instead of an airliner as part of its programme.
Australian MPL regulations are in place following Alteon's beta trial of the programme in the country, which resulted in six cadet pilots from China Eastern Airlines and Xiamen Airlines graduating late last year.
Australia had identified MPL as an opportunity to capture the flying training export market, especially in India and China, says Morgan. But today India has got 6,000 pilots in excess of its requirements following the downturn and unless Chinese customers "pay what it costs we can't do business". There is no appetite for MPL from Australian carriers, he adds.
Many concerns remain with MPL, says Morgan, including time and cost issues; the aircraft-simulator mix; regulation issues, including who regulates the line training in the operator's country; device and staff qualifications; and recognition.
Morgan believes MPL missed the opportunity to change the theory element of flying training, suggesting it could be done in 700h as opposed to 1,000h.
23/06/09 Emma Kelly/Flight International/Flightglobal

Bangalore: Russian-made MiG-23 fighter jets, phased out in March by the Indian Air Force (IAF) after nearly 30 years in service, haven’t entirely outlived their utility. The aircraft are being converted into laboratories and workshops for aeronautics students.
Two remote engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu have already acquired the ground attack fighters, dismantled and stripped of critical equipment such as radars, arms and engines. While the students can’t get these planes to take off again—Indian defence law prevents non-military entities from flying such planes—they can learn from dismantling and reassembling the fighters using spare parts made locally.
“Displaying the jet in the lab excites (students) than showing (it) on a computer,” says J. Chandrasekhar, chairman, department of aerospace engineering at Amrita School of Engineering near Coimbatore.
“Let us face it, aviation is a glamorous subject. It is easy to make students interested in (the subject by) displaying something spectacular than showing them drawings,” says retired air marshal B.K. Pandey, a former head of IAF training command in Bangalore.
Teaching of aerospace or aeronautical engineering has advanced from textbook drawings and dummy models to three-dimensional computer graphics,?but the course has for long been restricted mainly to the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore and some Indian Institutes of Technology.
Over the past few years, though, increased demand for aeronautics engineers has encouraged several colleges to add the subject. In just the past three years, at least 20 colleges in Tamil Nadu have begun offering aerospace and aeronautics courses, says A.K. Natesan, chairman of Excel Engineering College in Tamil Nadu’s Namakkal district.
Excel, which acquired a retired MiG-23 jet in February, sent some of its staff to the Halwara airbase in Punjab—the base for the MiG-23 squadron called the “Valiants”—to study how the plane was being dismantled. Once the jet was brought to the college, the staff helped students put the fighter back together.
At Amrita, too, engineers are reassembling the plane, making spares such as hydraulics locally; later, the students will learn the working of the jet. Both Amrita and Excel didn’t want to state on record how much they paid the air force for the jets but said the fee was nominal.
22/06/09 K. Raghu/Livemint

Delhi: Twenty-four-year-old Navin Singh couldn't believe his luck when in August 2008 he received an interview call from Alliance Air, the low-cost wing of Air India, for the post of trainee pilot. Singh had spent over Rs 20 lakh in obtaining a commercial pilot's licence and was looking forward to a successful career. The interview went off successfully but then came the dark twist in the tale. Air India went absolutely silent, neither confirming the job, nor cancelling the recruitment process.
On June 16, this year, Singh noticed an advertisement issued by Alliance Air in leading national newspapers, inviting fresh applications for type-rated pilots (trained to fly a particular passenger aircraft) urgently. Singh, along with the 67 other qualified pilots who had been invited for the interview last year, are now up in arms against the national carrier, accusing it of foul play.
"Till last year, Air India hired trainee pilots and then trained them to fly the particular type of aircraft. But this year, the airline has advertised to directly recruit type-rated pilots. If the airline can't afford to train us, we can do so ourselves," said Singh. Agreed Lokesh, another applicant who had appeared for the interview. "If Air India wanted type-rated pilots, the airline should have told us to undergo the training. We would have done so. If I have spent Rs 20 lakh to get a commercial pilot's licence, can't I afford to spend another Rs 12 to 15 lakh, which is the fee for the special training?" said Lokesh.
The young pilots allege Air India is resorting to this ploy to fraudulently recruit pilots from certain private airlines.
"In May 2009, these pilots from private airlines were issued recruitment letters. However, the letters were later withdrawn when we approached the vigilance department of the airline and lodged a compliant. To cover-up the fraud, the airline has issued fresh advertisements to somehow pull these pilots abroad," said another applicant.
"Our results were withheld for almost nine months. Air India could have called us and by now we would have completed the special aircraft training," said Lokesh.
For most of them, a dream has been shattered. "I took a loan of Rs 20 lakh to fund my training programme from an American institute. I was depending on the Alliance Air job to repay it. I waited for over nine months for the job offer. If they didn't want to take us in, the airline could have intimated us officially," said Arjun, another applicant.
Urmila Subbarao, head, vigilance department, Air India, refused to comment on the issue, saying she did not recall receiving any such complaint.
"This year we have advertised for type-rated pilots because we need experienced hands. Earlier, we used to advertise for trainee pilots. The difference in requirement is apparent. While we can understand the views expressed by some pilots who had applied for jobs on a previous occasion, they need to appreciate the urgency of our requirement," said Air India's spokesperson Jitendra Bhargava.
22/06/09 Surender Sharma/MiD DAY

Bangalore: Karnataka’s prestigious flying school, started way back in 1948 by the then Mysore Government soon after Indepedence and closed down since 2006 following a legal hurdle, is set to take wings yet again.
The flying school is located at Jakkur, near Yelahanka about 20 kms from the city and very near to the Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) at Devanahalli in the city outskirts, would be reopened soon and a fresh batch of training programme would commence from the ensuing academic year 2009-10 itself, according to Youth Services and Textiles Minister Gulihatti D Shekar.
Youngsters dreaming of learning flying have more reasons to cheer with the minister’s announcement regarding the Union Civil Aviation Ministry’s consent to offer to aircrafts to the flying school.
The flying school had been closed down in 1997 till November 2003. It was revived again in November 2003 and functioned for a brief while till 2006, without being able to do much as it had barely any staff except a flying instructor. The government sought enlist the help of private sector to run the school but the private-public partnership agreement ran into the rough weather leading to its closure in 2006.
The minister said Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa had given the green signal for reopening the flying school, which also received the support of the UPA regime.
Disclosing that a newly constructed building at the Jakkur would be inaugurated in a few days, he said a panel of experts would be consulted to fix intake of students per batch and the fee.
With the change in the civil aviation scenario, the minister said the demand for pilots was likely to go up.
The school had sufficient infrastructure to commence the classes The Directorate-General of Civil Aviation’s permission has been sought for renewal of licence and appointment of aircraft trainers, he said.
18/06/09 Daijiworld.com

Alliance Air has invited applications for the posts of type rated / rated pilots on Boeing 737, CRJ 700 and ATR 42-320. It seems the requirement of the regional airline wing of NACIL is urgent.

Eligibility:
All applicants must possess current Indian CPL / ATPL, FRTO, RTR, IR and a current Class I medical on the date of application for any of the above-mentioned posts.

• Boeing 737 Commander Candidate must possess minimum 100 hours current PIC Endorsement on B737-200 type of Aircraft.
• CRJ 700 Commander Candidate must possess minimum 100 hours as PIC on CRJ family of Aircraft or 1000 hours PIC on multi-engine jet transport Aircraft.
• CRJ – 700 Co-Pilot Candidate must possess Co-Pilot type rating on CRJ family of Aircraft.
• ATR 42-320 Commander Candidate must possess minimum 100 hours PIC on ATR family of Aircraft or 1000 hours PIC on multi engine Turbo Prop Aircraft transport Aircraft with AUW of 5700 kgs or more.

Candidates may send their typed application separately for each position giving full personal and professional details including validity of their licences / rating etc. alongwith attested copies of their certificates, licences, log books and 02 recent passport size photographs to Airline Allied Services Limited, New Delhi, so as to reach the following address latest by 6th July, 2009:

Chief of Personnel (Alliance Air)
Airline Allied Services Limited
Old Lufthansa Hangar,
Adjacent to Office of Executive Director,
(N.R.) NACIL Terminal – 1B,
IGI Airport,
New Delhi – 110 037.

Eligible candidates will be called for interview. See the detailed notification here:
16/06/09 Alliance Air

Even as full service carriers like Jet Airways and Kingfisher are implementing an agenda to trim down capacity, low cost carriers like IndiGo and SpiceJet are taking the lead in the market and hiring people.
As a result, air hostess training academies and cabin crew training centers are back in business. Leading academies like Frankfinn, AHA (Air Hostess Academy) and Avalon are flying high as budget carriers have set the ball rolling by hiring people across departments since January this year, bucking recessionary trends.
The recruitments are for the posts of pilots, cabin crew, airport managers, senior analysts, supervisors and ground instructors.
The New Delhi-based low-cost carrier SpiceJet has plans to recruit 400-500 people this fiscal. These will include 40 pilots and 60 cabin crew, besides those for security, reservations/ticketing and customer care. Even IndiGo airlines has been a frequent visitor at campus recruitments organised at AHA and Avalon.
“With all these airlines hiring, our placement record has improved by 5 per cent compared with last year. We have placed approximately 900 students this year. Our students have got placed in hotels, travel agencies and ground handling agencies earlier,” Sapna Gupta, founder and director of Air Hostess Academy, said
Air hostess training institute Frankfinn said it will invest Rs 400 crore in the next three years to increase its number of centers to 200 across the country and abroad. At present, Frankfinn has around 115 centers across the country.
17/06/09 Ruchi Panigrahi/Business Standard

New Delhi: Air India chairman-cum-managing director Arvind Jadhav, 53, has cancelled the recruitment of 40 trainee pilots and ordered the HR department of the airline to start the recruitment process afresh.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Air India board had received several complaints of manipulation and irregularities in the selection of these pilots in April. Some of the selected candidates are said to be close relatives of senior airline officials.
"The decision was taken by the CMD early this week after the process was found to have been vitiated," said a senior Air India official on condition of anonymity.
Of the 1,400 commercial pilot license (CPL) holders who appeared for the exam on April 12, Air India had finally selected 40 pilots. Soon after this, the list of selected trainee pilots had been forwarded to the then Air India CMD Raghu Menon for approval in the third week of April. Since then, the file had been lying on the CMD's table.
When Jadhav took over as the new CMD over on May 4, he found that the perks and privileges offered to these pilots were higher than those permitted by the rules. Citing these conditions and several other irregularities, he the ordered cancellation of the entire process, the AI official said.
At present, there are over 1,000 foreign pilots working for different airlines in India. Air India, which has about 700 pilots on its rolls, employs about 100 foreign pilots.
13/06/09 Hindustan Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX/TMCnews

New Delhi: Between 1950 and 2003, AI airhostesses' flying age limit had been hiked in phases from 30 to their male counterpart’s 58. But each time this was done with a condition of regular medical checks to ensure their airworthiness while the male flight pursers did not have any such rules.
They only had to undergo an annual weight check, without the risk of being grounded if found overweight. Now AI management has reached an agreement with its cabin crew officers association that will make regular health checks mandatory for basic factors like heart condition, BP, diabetes and stress both for males and females.
Also, a male purser will no longer be the only one acting as inflight supervisor. Airhostesses will also get to head the division. And most importantly, the concept of interchangability of duties has been introduced for cabin crew.
Air India has 913 male pursers and 1,164 airhostesses. Indian Airlines (now AI-domestic) has 259 flight pursers and 1,091 airhostesses.
04/06/09 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

Mumbai: Air India has given a two-fold increase in the salaries of its executive (officer grade) cabin crew to Rs 2.25-lakh, with retrospective effect from June 1, 1997.
The move is likely to put an additional burden of Rs 170-crore annually at a time when the airlines were making losses due to economic slowdown.
"The NACIL (the holding company of Air India) management has signed a wage accord with its Cabin Crew Officers Association for the period of 1997-2007, assuring them of full benefits with back wages for the past 15-years," a source said on Tuesday.
The average package of these officers after this accord would reach about Rs 2.25-lakh per month from around Rs one lakh which they draw presently, the source said, adding, around 900 officers will benefit.
The package includes enhanced flying allowances and wages as well as guaranteed executive class tickets on duty and on leave, the source said.
"The union has also managed to get a one-time special promotion to the senior manager and deputy general manager grades with retrospective effect from 1997," he said.
02/06/09 Economic Times

New Delhi: To beef up the functioning of the aviation regulatory body, the government has approved filling up of 700 posts in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, which is in a rush to meet critical conditions set by its US counterpart to meet global safety standards.
A team of the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) is expected to be here later this month to carry out a safety audit, which is meant to standardise Indian and American regulations and enable DGCA to retain the premium Category-I rating of the US regulator.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel has said about 700 posts, both new ones and those lying vacant, have been sanctioned. Most of the posts to be filled up are in DGCA's air safety and investigation wings.
Admitting that manpower shortage was a stumbling block for DGCA to efficiently function as the country's aviation regulator, official sources said the process of recruitment for DGCA would begin soon.
During its last visit earlier this year, the FAA team had raised the issue of manpower shortage in DGCA. The final report of FAA would decide whether DGCA manages to retain the premium Category-I slot or is pushed to the second slot.
02/06/09 PTI/Economic Times

Bangalore: CAE and HAL held a ceremony to lay the foundation stone for a new helicopter training centre in Bangalore on Monday. The facility— Helicopter Academy to Train by Simulation of Flying (HATSOFF)—is an equally-owned joint venture between HAL and CAE. The centre will be operational by mid-2010.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Sanjeev Sahi, Director (HR), HAL, said that this facility would be first of its kind once operational. “HASTSOFF will offer Level-D simulator training to helicopter pilots and maintainers. By partnering with CAE, we are making sure the simulation technology is at the leading edge in order to play a key role in training and producing skilled and mission-ready helicopter crews. HAL is committed to enhancing the safety of helicopter operators in India and to provide a complete service offering for our military and civil clients of the Dhruv helicopter,” Mr Sahi said.
Mr Martin Gagné, Chairman of the HATSOFF Board of Directors and CAE’s Group President, Military Simulation Products, Training and Services, said HATSOFF will serve a critical need for enhancing safety and mission readiness.
The centre will be equipped with a CAE-built full-mission simulator featuring CAE's revolutionary roll-on/roll-off cockpit design, which enables cockpits representing various helicopter types to be used in the simulator. When fully operational, HATSOFF will be able to train up to 400 helicopter pilots each year. Initially, HATSOFF will offer comprehensive training to civil and military customers operating four helicopter types: the Indian Army/Air Force variant of the HAL-built Dhruv, the civil variant of the Dhruv, the Bell 412 and the Eurocopter Dauphin.
The training centre will feature multimedia classrooms, computer-based training, brief/debrief facilities, and a training management information system.
02/06/09 defpro.com

Mumbai: Dismissing allegations of nepotism in recruitment of trainee pilots, a senior Air India official on Sunday said “there was no foul play” in the selection process.
“The vigilance inquiry has not found any wrong-doing in the selection process of pilots,” the official said. The entire selection process was on merit and no favouritism played any part in it, the official said.
Air India in February this year had advertised vacancies for trainee pilots and subsequently conducted a written test on April 12, which was followed by psychometric test and personal interviews.
Based on these tests and simulator/flight proficiency assessment check, the air-carrier selected 40 trainee pilots for appointment out of the 1,400 candidates who had applied. However, their selection got mired in a controversy following allegations of favouritism, forcing the then AI chairman and managing director Mr Bharat Bhushan to put the appointments on hold and order a vigilance enquiry.
31/05/09 PTI/The Hindu