Conquering the skies at 25

Mumbai: With airlines in the booming industry increasing their fleet, there are more vacancies at the helm. While 20-somethings are commanding single-aisle jets like A-320s and Boeing 737s, pilots are beginning to command 747s in their early 40s, something unheard of in the 1980s.
“Globally, the average age of a jetliner commander is about 45-plus, as a majority of pilots get to fly jets only after going through a long transition process, from single-engine aircraft to multi-engine turbines and finally jets,” said Capt R Otaal, general secretary of the Indian Commercial Pilot’s Association.
In India, as general aviation flying – on piston and turbine aircraft – hardly exists, pilots start their careers on airline jets. Though this has been the case all these decades, becoming the commander of a jet was still a long process that took five to nine years.
In the last two years though, co-pilots have been turning into commanders within just two years. The reason? “It has to do with the rapid fleet expansion by airlines, which has brought in plenty of vacancies for the top post,” said Captain Ayodh Kapur, retired Air India commander and former director of the Federation of Indian Pilots.
According to Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) guidelines, a first officer (co-pilot) can graduate to command a particular aircraft after flying 1,500 hours as a first officer on it.
Although some airlines stick to this rule, others – like Jet Airways, Indian and so on – have raised the bar. But this, too, is being brought down.
“In 1972, an Indian Airlines co-pilot had to fly 4,800 hours to be eligible to become a commander. That was brought down to 2,750 hours in 1996. Now the airline is trying to bring it down to the DGCA minimum of 1,500 hours,” said Otaal.
Other contributing factors include the fact that students are taking to flight training early and the process itself is quicker.In fact, some students complete their flight training much before they are 18 and then wait for their birthday to apply for the licence.
Aviation safety experts are looking at the trend with caution. “If one becomes a commander after flying as a co-pilot for only two monsoons, there is a level of risk involved due to lack of experience.”
“One must remember that a 19-year-old co-pilot may be sharing the cockpit with a 25-year-old commander – there are hardly any years of experience between them,” said an aviation observer.
“The positive side is that younger pilots have sharper reflexes. In the 1960s, when the world was making a transition from piston aircraft to jets and Air India got its first Boeing 707, many older and much-experienced pilots could not make the transition. It was the younger pilots who did it,” said Kapur.
20/08/07 Manju V/Times of India