Big dreams, but few skills

According to Dinesh Keskar, senior VP of sales, Boeing, “ Indian flying schools only churn out pilots with a commercial pilot license (CPL) or private pilot license, and they hardly possess the expertise to fly the sophisticated aircraft of today’s airlines.” Pointing to the lack of infrastructure in flying schools, Saroj Datta, a director at Jet Airways, says, “Not only is there a shortage of aircraft in these schools, they often do not have sufficiently qualified trainers. So, it is rather difficult for us to employ the pass-outs of such institutes.”
Given the acute shortfall, airlines are resorting to foreign pilots—a measure which S Venkat, executive director, Air-India describes as an “interim but important measure.” Often, these foreigners, who are mostly from Eastern Europe, are not even proficient in English. But that doesn’t worry the airlines because, as Bruce Ashby, CEO & president, IndiGo puts it, “For us, it’s not a case of preference. Qualified foreign pilots who have flown as captains on the same type of aircraft at another carrier can move straight into captain positions. On the other hand, CPL holders (whether Indian or foreign), who have just passed out from a pilot training school require many years to reach that level.”
A part of the experience required by CPL holders to become full-fledged pilots is time spent in simulators—also in short supply in the country.
Another strategy that airlines are using to cope with the shortage is to send their pilots abroad for training. Recently, Air-India announced a move to send at least 150 aspiring pilots, preferably engineering graduates, for training to Europe and Australia. JetAirways also plans a similar move. Indian Airlines, on the other hand, neither has to employ foreigners nor does it have to send its pilots to foreign schools. An official source informs FE that all its pilots are trained at its air-university in Hyderabad, which has state-of-the-art facilities for pilot training. In fact, other airlines send their pilots for training to this institute.
Though the shortage of pilots may be acute now–aggravated by the poaching of Indian pilots by Gulf carriers–the industry expects the situation to improve with time. Indian even though the demand for pilots is expected to be between 7,500 and 8,000 by 2010, a the number of flying schools with advanced training facilities that are now coming up across the country should ease the situation considerable. Boeing has set up a flying school in Mumbai that has Boeing 737 simulators. The Airports Authority of India will also set up an air school in Gondia soon.
03/03/07 Arunima Chakraborty/Financial Express