‘Trained’ plane maintenance engineers join ranks of jobless

New Delhi: She was fascinated by aviation when in school and after graduating with a BSc in physics, enrolled in an aircraft maintenance engineering (AME) college in Pune, Maharashtra. After finishing the three-year course that cost Rs. 3 lakh, certifying a flight for takeoff may still be years away, if not an impossible dream, for 25-year-old Uttara.
“I will complete my course in two months, then I will be applying (for a job) in the airlines or flying clubs,” says Uttara, who wants to be identified only by her first name. “The problem with the industry is (that) there is no intake of freshers. There are a few people with basic licences, but they have no jobs.”
Some of her seniors are working as technicians for salaries as low as Rs. 3,000 a month, says Uttara, who is now on an on-the-job training stint at a flying club in Indore. She estimates that of every 10 candidates who apply for an aircraft maintenance engineer’s job, only four may find one, and two of them because of connections in the industry.
The problem is the proliferation in recent years of AME institutes that have little to offer students by way of training, but pander to their dreams of joining a glamorous industry with the potential to earn a starting salary as high as Rs. 50,000 a month. A low entry barrier means students can join an institute as soon as they finish high school and at the end of the three-year course, they are still treated as no more than high school graduates. That’s because the certificates awarded by most institutes are not recognized as the equivalent of a university degree.
The airline industry’s rapid growth in recent years has prompted the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the industry regulator, to grant dozens of licences to AME institutes. Their number increased to 77 in 2010 from 32 in 2004. The number of institutes in the northern region alone rose to 26 from nine in the period.

The result: A growing number of engineers are joining the ranks of the unemployed in the aviation industry, where the jobless include 5,000 commercial pilot licence holders who have little experience.
The aviation sector employs about 122,000 people. According to consulting firm Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (Capa), the industry will require 360,000 people by 2020. Demand for pilots, engineers and cabin crew will increase to just over 90,000 from 32,000 now.

A maintenance engineer’s job is a critical one, ensuring the airworthiness and safety of a plane. AME graduates need to clear an examination conducted by DGCA to qualify as engineers. Applicants need to be at least 21 years old, having passed the 10+2 school examination with physics and mathematics, or any other equivalent qualification acceptable to DGCA. They also need a minimum four years of experience in AME.
14/07/11 Tarun Shukla/Live Mint