Surge in air traffic lures foreign pilots to fill Indian skies

New Delhi: As India’s aviation industry booms, a crippling shortage of pilots has emerged as the biggest headache for airline chief executives.
With a fast-growing economy and a big middle class with more disposable income than ever before, new airlines have taken off. Millions of not-so-rich Indians are flying for the first time on dirt-cheap fares offered by new budget airlines.
These airlines have fleets of shiny new planes and snazzy outfits for cabin crew, but there is no one to fly them.
The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation in New Delhi estimates that India has 2800 pilots and will need 4500 more over the next five years.
Every year, the various training academies produce only about 250 pilots.
Airlines such as Kingfisher, Jet, Air Deccan and Indian Airlines are hiring foreign pilots to fill the gap. The resumes on the desk of Air Deccan chief executive, Captain G. R. Gopinath, are mainly from foreign pilots.
Of Air Deccan’s 399 pilots, 140 are foreigners. Of Jet Airways’ 780 pilots, 110 are foreigners. Virtually every airline has a large percentage of foreign pilots.
The average pilot’s salary in India may be low by European or US standards but it goes a long way in India.
“I’ve got job security, good English language schools for my kids and a chance to explore a new culture,” said Greg Pellman, an American who joined Air Deccan last year, one of 450 expatriate pilots in the country. “I wish I’d come earlier.”
In a bid to fill the shortage, the Indian Government recently increased pilots’ retirement age from 58 to 65. It is also planning a new training institute.
But there is a limit to how many foreigners an airline can hire. A Government regulation stipulates that at least one pilot in the cockpit has to be an Indian. Sensing future problems, some of the airlines have asked the Government to relax this requirement.
14/04/07 Amrit Dhillon/The Age, Australia