English, expat pilots hardly fly together

New Delhi: Rising number of expats coming in may have proved to be a blessing for the pilot-starved aviation industry in India, but their high failure rate in oral English tests conducted by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has become a cause for concern.
Industry sources say 15-20% of expat pilots fail to clear the mandatory English test conducted under the Aeronautic Information Circular (AIC-7) and are sent back by the airlines. DGCA started conducting English examinations last year after a sharp rise in the number of incidents arising out of miscommunication between expat pilots and air traffic control.
“Getting pilots from non-English speaking countries like Poland, Bulgaria and Romania is of no help as they find it hard to clear the English test, while trained pilots from developed countries are an expensive proposition,” said a senior Kingfisher Airlines executive.
Of the 4,000 pilots in domestic aviation, about 1,000 are expats, while flying permissions for about 80-100 expats are pending with the DGCA.
Airlines typically pay between $9,000 and $11,000 per month to expat pilots, about 10-15% more than what Indian pilots earn, in addition to housing and other perks.
18/08/07 Chanchal Pal Chauhan/Economic Times