Aviation India: Careers

DGCA has published the schedule of AME Licence Examination October 2009 session. The exams are being conducted on 6th and 7th October 2009. See the schedule here.
The roll numbers of admitted candidates also is published at the DGCA site.

Admitted List:

• Mumbai
• New Delhi
• Others

Rejected Candidates List:

• List1
• List2

The examination of students of AME Institutes, who were enrolled in July 2008 and with Computer Number 08050173 onwards, will be conducted at a date, which will be announced later.
30/09/09 DGCA

Tiruchirapalli: A pilot training institute will be established at the International Airport here soon, according to V K N Kannappan, promoter of the institute here today.
Airport Authority of India (AAI) had allotted 10,000 sq ft area in the airport premises for starting the academy by VKN Aviation Academy (VAA), he told PTI.
VAA had acquired a fleet of five Cessna aircraft from the US and appointed insturctors and other personnel for commissioning the academy, he said.
About 100 persons would be trained for an year in the academy in a batch, he said.
30/09/09 PTI/SamayLive

Jaipur: The students of a private institute has lodged an FIR against its owner on charges of fraud. The institute, Flying Careers India, which offers courses for career in the aviation industry is situated at Hanuman Nagar in Vaishali Nagar area of the city. The four students, who have approached the police, claimed that the owner had guaranteed them jobs after completion of their six-moth degree course from the institute, but even eight months after getting the degrees, they have not been placed anywhere.
Ramdayal Meena, Manoj, Rajendra and Lalaram alleged in the FIR that they had completed the degree courses, related to jobs as crew members in the aviation industry, in January this year.
28/09/09 Times of India

Kochi: The Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL), which has earned the reputation of being a model airport in the country, has crossed another important milestone by launching an academy in the aviation sector, said Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan here on Friday.
He was inaugurating the CIAL Academy, a subsidiary of the CIAL offering full-time MBA programmes, advanced diploma courses and certificate programmes, in collaboration with the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU).
“The CIAL is also planning to begin aircraft maintenance and overhauling units within two months,” said the CM, who also opened the new departure block at the international terminal of the airport.
Fisheries Minister S Sarma, who presided over the function, said that the Academy would function on a no-profitno- loss basis, enabling the students to pursue the courses at affordable fees. He said that admission to the Academy would be regulated purely on merit basis and reservation norms would be strictly followed.
“The State Government has agreed to handover a five-acre prime land at Athani, near here, for the Academy,” said Revenue Minister K P Rajendran.
Briefing the details of the Academy, CIAL managing director C G Krishnadas Nair said that knowledge was one of the most valuable things in the world and providing modern education was a precious service.
“The CIAL has completed the formalities and finalised the syllabus for the courses, in consultation with the IGNOU, which will be beneficial to both lower-grade employees and top managers,” said IGNOU Vice-Chancellor V N Rajasekharan Pillai.
26/09/09 ExpressBuzz

DGCA has published the results of Pilot Licence Examination (with ALTP) July 2009 session.
The last date of submission of duly completed application form for ATPL category of PIlot Licence Written Examination October 2009 session is October 2009. The examination dates (tentative) are 17, 18 and 19 October 2009.
Download the results here.
25/06/09 DGCA

Mumbai: DGCA has found in its records that 174 Indian pilots have been recruited by airlines, chartered operators and flying academies under the provisions of Foreign Aircrew Temporary Authorisation (FATA), meant only for recruiting foreign pilots.
The FATA application forms issued by the DGCA under Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR), Series G, asks for details like "name in full of foreign pilot.'' However, Indian pilots have not only been filling in their names but their appointments are also being approved by the DGCA office.
So why are Indian pilots gaining entry into airlines in India under FATA?
There are a number of reasons, the most prominent being that the provisions of FATA are discriminatory and give an unfair advantage to foreign pilots. Sample this: a foreign pilot who was responsible for, say, an air accident in 2007 may not get a promotion as an instructor in his country soon but can work as an instructor in India in 2009 under FATA. An Indian commander with the same record would have to operate safe flights for 10 years (till 2017) to become an instructor.
An Indian pilot has to undergo a string of additional medical tests by IAF doctors when they reach the ages of 55, 57, 59 and 60. Foreign pilots in India undergo a simple medical check with a local medical practitioner who is approved by their respective authorities. Lastly, if an Indian commander has to join another airline in India as a commander, he/she should have at least 1,000 hours as pilot-in-command on the same aircraft type. A foreign commander can get the same post with only 100 hours as pilot-in-command.
So who are these Indian pilots? Most did their commercial pilot licence training abroad.
25/09/09 Manju V/Times of India

New Delhi: The government has started a twin-pronged quality-check programme for pilots before certifying them fit to be in cockpits. Both fresh Indian pilots coming from flying schools abroad with dubious track record and foreign pilots are candidates for this quality check.
There had been reports that some flying schools abroad allegedly indulge in malpractices to fast track the process of churning out pilots or are ill-equipped to be a training facility at all.
This fear was borne out after a DGCA team went to some flying schools in Philippines last week and found that either schools did not have the required infrastructure or students were not flying for the set number of hours needed to become a pilot.
25/09/09 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

DGCA has published the list of allotted pilot computer numbers (September 2009).
Application for written examination will only be accepted from those applicants, who fullfil the requirements mentioned in the CAR section 7, series B, Part-1, Rev.2, Dated - 07Aug 2006. Applicant shall read the Series B, Section 7 of Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) prior to making any enquiry from CEO. This CAR can be seen and downloaded from DGCA website or its hard copy can be obtained from the English Book Store, 17 L, Connought Place, New Delhi-110001.
The examination fee has been revised @ Rs. 500/- per Paper.
Download the list from the DGCA website here.

List of rejected candidates can be seen here. The reason for rejection also is there. DGCA advices these candidates to submit fresh application for allotment of computer number along with all the required Documents for next session.
16/09/09 DGCA

Mumbai: The results of the Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) exam, which was held in July, were recently declared and much to the students' surprise-- rather shock--they found that all those, who had attempted two subjects in the technical category, had failed.
The zero percent pass rate in two subjects is probably a first for the country's pilot exams.
"A total of 182 students from across the country took the technical specific paper for Cessna 152 aircraft and all of them failed. So did all the 34 who appeared for technical specific exams for P-68 aircraft,'' said a student, adding that many have verbally complained to the DGCA's central examination organisation (CEO)--responsible for conducting CPL exams--questioning the evaluation process.
Since the minimum percentage required to clear CPL exams is 70, the results often show a high failure rate. "However, it has never been so bad that the entire lot flunked,'' said a student. "Technical specific papers are supposed to be the easiest of the lot.''
Two papers are held for the technical subject--the first is technical general, which covers the theories of flight and engines and in the second, a student has to write on a particular type of aircraft (the one he/she is undergoing flying training on) and its salient features like speed limitations, maximum take-off weight and emergency landing procedures. The 100% failures have been reported only for technical specific exams conducted for Cessna 152 and P-68 aircraft.
"There was a technical glitch this time in the computerised checking process, which has led to this,'' Director-general of civil aviation Nasim Zaidi said. "This has been corrected. The new results for the two subjects will be declared in a day or two.''
15/09/09 Manju V/Times of India

Chennai: The Madras Flying Club was set up thanks to the initiative of pilot G Vlasto, who called for a meeting at Madras Guards Institute in Poonamallee High Road in 1929. It was formally inaugurated by the then governor of Madras, Sir George Frederick Stanley, on August 20, 1930. Lady Beatrix Stanley, who witnessed the ceremony, christened the first two aircraft Garuda and Pushpak.
It was the club, which received a subsidy from the director of civil aviation, that kindled an interest in flying in south India and produced several pilots who became pioneers in aviation. The first instructional flight took place in July 21, 1930, with H N Hawker as the pilot instructor and M W Hulcoop as first engineer. Altogether, 878 students have received the private pilot license and 267 students the commercial pilots license after completing training at the club.
Today, after 80 glorious years, the club, which gets about Rs 7.5 lakh from the state government, is in need of funds to improve training. "I will recommend an increase in subsidy being allotted to the club if a detailed proposal is submitted," said minister of transport K N Nehru. He added that the government could revive a student subsidy for flying lessons (subsidy was discontinued two years ago) as well.
"We will give a proposal soon to the state government. We will like the government to subsidise commercial flying license training for private pilot license holders and provide fuel subsidy," MFC secretary Captain Sebastian said.
13/09/09 Times of India

Bangalore: Think of a career that is beyond the conventional -- one that will enable you to reach for the sky. Think no further. Think aeronautical engineering.
Aeronautical engineering is one of the most popular courses in engineering. It is a branch of study that deals with the design, construction, development, testing and manufacturing of aircraft.
A regular BE/BTech in aeronautical engineering is the best option for students who have passed Plus Two with mathematics, physics, chemistry or biotechnology, and computer science or biology as key subjects. It is also mandatory to qualify in the Joint Entrance Examinations (J.E.E.) which is conducted by the IITs. Besides the IITs there are some other institutes which also conduct their own separate entrance examinations for the admission of students.
If you are unable to get admission to a regular course in an engineering college approved by the AICTE, then you can become an aeronautical engineer by opting for AMAeSI. AMAeSI is the Associate Membership of the Aeronautical Society of India (AeSI), New Delhi, which is equivalent to BE/BTech in aeronautical engineering.

Institutes
Indian Institute of Technology (Mumbai, Kharagpur, Chennai, Kanpur); Madras Institute of Technology, Chennai; Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh; Hindustan Institute of Engineering Technology, Chennai; Nehru College of Aeronautics & Applied Science, Coimbatore; School of Aviation Science and Technology, New Delhi; Indian Institute for Aeronautical Engineering & Information Technology, Pune; Indian Institute of Aeronautical Engineering, Dehradun; Institute of Aviation Technology, Bahadurgarh (Haryana); Hindustan Electronics Academy, Bangalore; Indian Institute of Aeronautics, Patna; Institute of Aeronautical and Marine Engineering, Bangalore.
14/09/09 Daily News & Analysis

With an aim to contribute trained professionals and quality manpower to the travel and tourism industry, Kuoni India launched the Kuoni Academy of Travel in 2003. Today, with centres in New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Jaipur and Bhopal, the Kuoni Academy of Travel has already created a pool of over travel industry professionals . In fact, in March 2007, Kuoni Academy of Travel launched its first centre outside India, in Guangzhou, China.
Kuoni boast that industry leaders and illustrious academicians , who bring vast practical knowledge and experience from the market into the classroom, frame the academy's courses. The academy is a state-of-the-art centre that provides customised courseware through specialist faculty. Students can join general courses, specialist programmes or comprehensive travel management courses, all of which incorporate real case studies and the latest industry developments.
The courses offered include PG diploma in hospitality , UG diploma in hospitality , diploma in food and beverage, diploma in front office and housekeeping, international tourism specialist training programme, PG diploma in travel and tourism management, UG diploma in travel and tourism, tour managers programme , Kuoni airline diploma , Airlines Computer Reservation Course (Galileo CRS), IATA-UFTAA foundation course and the list goes on.
The academy boasts to use superlative training techniques, with on personal development and professional attitudes particularly the ability of students to mix with others and the acceptance of responsibility.
13/09/09 Pallavee Dhaundiyal Panthry/Economic Times

New Delhi: There are nearly 4000 trained commercial pilots in India who are still looking for jobs.
So far, these trained men have seen no encouraging news nor have their careers taken off due to recession. Many of them spend hours on the internet looking for job openings.
Trained pilots like Rakshit were trained at the Epic Aviation in Florida. But even after spending Rupees 30 lakhs on his course and getting a commercial pilot license, the 23-year-old has no job.
The Association Of Unemployed Pilots says that there are now more than 3500 trained pilots in India who are still waiting for jobs. The numbers have gone up drastically during the global meltdown.
Some of the jobs were taken away by more than 900 highly paid expatriate pilots, say members of the association of unemployed pilots. But the government has asked them to leave by July 2010, which may come as some relief to the unemployed ones awaiting some opportunities to pop up.
10/09/09 Priyanka Dube/CNN-IBN

Amidst the hype and hoopla over Madras Week celebrations in August, the Madras Flying Club (MFC) entering its 80th year was not marked with due emphasis.
The club’s building is the oldest structure inside the airport premises at Meenambakkam and stands testimony to the glorious past of aviation history in Chennai.
The club started functioning informally under Vlasto on March 4, 1930 and the the first instructional flight took off on July 21 in 1930.In the absence of a central training centre, flying clubs catered to the demand for training pilots and MFL awarded 90 CPLs between 1948 and 1956. During the Chinese aggression in 1962, five flying clubs were appointed for training air force pilots and MFC was one of them. In 2004 the club stopped its training programme and it was resumed in 2006 from a new airstrip near Vellore.
For the past two years, the Madras Flying Club (MFC) has run into rough weather with a student taking the club to court, charges of corruption and mud slinging among the top management.
A student, Kasinandhini Devi had taken the club to court alleging that the club was admitting more students than allowed by the civil aviation department and that more than 200 students in the club were not getting enough flying hours due to excessive admissions.
Club off i c i a l s though say that there is only minimum intake every six months. “What happens most often is students who enroll drop out half way through their course without informing the club.
A large number of students are also regularly absent. In such scenario, we cannot keep the club’s infrastructure ideal and that is when we took more students. However, owing to the controversies now we have stopped admissions for sometime,” explains the club’s secretary Capt Sebastian.
Club insiders say that some members of the management faked letters from parents complaining that their wards were not being given flying lessons.
To sully things further, the club’s former chairman Captain Jacob Selvaraj complained to the union ministry of social justice and empowerment alleging that education scholarships worth Rs 15 lakh had been misused. The charges, however, were proved wrong earlier this year.
For those want to train as a pilot in and around Chennai but want to avoid the historic but troubled Madras Flying Club (MFC), there are other options in the form of private flying schools but these too operate only partially from Chennai or Puducherry.
Apart from MFC, Chennai has 3 private flying schools imparting flight training. The oldest among these is Orient Flight School (OFS), which was established at Puducherry in 1994 and over a period of fourteen years it has trained hundreds of pilots.
OFC had been conducting their flight training out of an air strip near Jaipur for the last few months as the Puducherry runway is under repair. Even the MFC has been conducting lessons at Vellore.
A growing lack of flying infrastructure in Chennai is forcing schools to give the actual flight training abroad after ground and theory classes in Chennai.
The Falcon Flight School in Alandur and the Delta Flight school from Texas based in Anna Nagar, give students commercial pilot licenses approved by the federal aviation administration of USA by training their students in USA after theory classes in Chennai.
07/09/09 Mamta Todi/ExpressBuzz

New Delhi: Airport and airline managements crying hoarse and increasing passenger fares may have become the face of the severe downturn in aviation industry.
But now, one more segment — possibly the worst affected by the crisis — has come together to have its voice heard. Nearly 100 to 150 young commercial pilot licence (CPL) holders, who spent anywhere up to Rs 35 lakh to become pilots, have formed the All India Unemployed Pilots Association (UPA).
With 3,000 to 3,500 CPL holders looking for jobs, and almost 1,000 more being churned out every year in India, UPA says its ranks are swelling by the day. Recently, UPA gave a charter of demands to the aviation ministry and the DGCA.
Three years ago, because of the unprecedented boom in air traffic here and the resulting shortage of pilots, the government had increased flying age of pilots from 60 to 65. Now, UPA has asked the government to roll this back so that 60 plus pilots can make way for the jobless youngsters. The other demand is for the ministry to expedite the sending back of 900-odd expat pilots on the rolls of Indian carriers.
Captain Ashok Arya, an ex-pilot who along with young net-savvy pilots formed the UPA, says the families of the CPL holders are facing tremendous financial hardship.
06/09/09 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

Mumbai: Budget airlines SpiceJet, IndiGo and all-business carrier Paramount Airways will hire more than 500 pilots, cabin crew and ground staff this fiscal as they expand operations after turning in surprise profits in the first quarter.
SpiceJet will hire 84 cabin crew and 24 pilots this calendar. The airline will increase capacity in non-metro cities and add four new aircraft to its fleet this fiscal, CEO Sanjay Aggarwal said.
IndiGo, the country’s largest low-cost carrier with a market share of 14%, will hire 50-60 pilots and add five aircraft to its fleet of 19. It will also be hiring ticketing staff and cabin crew, said a senior IndiGo official who requested not to be named.
Paramount Airways will hire 80 foreign and 200 local pilots over the next one year, as reported by ET recently. The airline is adding 10 aircraft to the existing fleet of six and will increase services to 2,500 flights per month by October.
GoAir inducted three new aircraft between March and June, increasing its fleet size to eight planes.
Airlines are now offering packages of less than Rs 4 lakh per month to domestic pilot, much below the industry benchmark of Rs 6 lakh.
Full carriers, meanwhile, are trimming their operations, retrenching employees and cancelling aircraft orders to stay afloat after record losses in the first quarter.
Naresh Goyal-promoted Jet Airways, which has reduced capacity by 20% on domestic routes, has issued termination notices to 43 cabin crew on probation and terminated contracts of 110 employees.
Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines recently warned its 6,000 employees of a delay in salary payment after reporting a first quarter loss of Rs 240 crore.
01/08/09 Mithun Roy/Economic Times

New Delhi: State-owned Pawan Hans Ltd has set up a maintenance engineering (AME) training school at Mumbai to meet the demand for skilled manpower for maintenance of helicopters.
The Pawn Hans Training Institute (PHTI) today invited applications for admissions to mechanical stream for the current academic year, which is starting from September 18.
The Institute would be providing two and three years courses -- one in mechanical stream and another in avionic stream.
In the first batch, 60 students would be inducted in the mechanical stream courses which would cover maintenance of airframe and aircraft engines.
The two courses, of three year durations including six month on-job-training, have been approved by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
31/08/09 PTI/Indopia.com