Air India facing shortage of commanders

Thiruvananthapuram: Air India (AI), which had initiated a series of steps to overcome the shortage of co-pilots, is now facing shortage of commanders with new aircraft ordered by it started joining the fleet.
“We have been able to get co-pilots. The boom in the aviation sector has forced many educated youth to go abroad, especially to the U.S., and to return with pilot licence. The shortage is confined to commanders,” according to Chairman and Managing Director of National Aviation Company of India (NACIL) Vasudevan Thulasidas.
Mr. Thulasidas, who was in the State capital recently, told The Hindu that AI would soon enter into an agreement with Alteon Training, a subsidiary of Boeing, to commence training of pilots in the country. As per the modalities being worked out, Hyderabad would be the base. The national carrier would also develop the training centre of the erstwhile Indian Airlines in Hyderabad into an integrated internal training facility.
04/02/08 S. Anil Radhakrishnan/The Hindu