Jobs in Civil Aviation: An overview
The airports authority of India (AAI) manages a total of 125 airports (excluding the five privatized airports at Bengaluru, Cochin, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Delhi), which include 11 international airports, 81 domestic airports, 25 civil enclaves at defence airfields and eight customs airports.A part from these airports, according to an article on dnaindia.com, AAI is planning to set up 50 new low-cost airports across 11 states.
The passenger traffic has also increased to support 19 private airlines operating in India, alongside Air India. Today, the airlines business in India contributes around 0.5 per cent to the national GDP.
Indian Airport passenger Traffic:There are many domestic and international airlines operating from India. The passenger traffic of Indian airports as on 2016 is 223.61 million and expected to increase to 421 million by 2020.
Employment in the Aviation Sector:The sector at present employs around 1.7 million individuals. Aviation industry employees are better paid than people employed in the other sectors of the transportation industry such as the railways and roadways, despite an extremely competitive market and low profitability.
As most of us know the aviation industry is going through a tough phase and has not been doing well- with many big airlines such as kingfisher forced to shut down after making huge losses due to the high cost of aviation fuel, among other things. In the year 2010-11, this industry saw many job cuts and a dip of around 15 per cent in hiring as well.But with the entry of new players, the domestic aviation and foreign aviation sectors recovered partly with the Aviation Sector creating the highest number of new jobs of Working population (aged between 15 & 64 years) is estimated to increase from 860 million in 2016 to 900 million by 2030, almost 3 times the US population
The six months have been particularly good for the sector, say industry experts.The industry has opened up various avenues for students who want to pursue a career as a pilot, Ground staff, cabin crew, Aircraft Maintenance Engineer, or other airlines’ jobs. There are professional courses for most of the jobs on offer. These courses are expensive but student loans make it possible to enrol.
Entry-level jobs:
Trainee Co-pilot (Trainee First Officer)
Job Description: A pilot is someone who flies an aircraft to transfer passengers and/or cargo from one location to another for leisure or business purposes. A pilot’s job is highly technical and requires lot of training. While 12th Class pass qualification is adequate to be a pilot, graduates can also succeed.Aircrafts are generally operated by two individuals, a pilot and a Co-Pilot, so that neither is fatigued.
Cabin CrewJob
Description:
Members of the Cabin Crew (an Airhostess/or a flight attendant) are those responsible for the safety and comfort of passengers on board. They assist passengers during boarding and explain to them how to use the safety equipment that is available on flight. They also serve refreshments to passengers, making their flight a pleasant one.During emergencies, their main task is to prepare the cabin for an emergency landing and evacuate passengers safely once the aircraft comes to a stop. They are also first-aid trained and ensure that passengers get medical attention during times of need.The Cabin Crew members are provided extensive training to ensure that passengers are provided with safety services during emergency situations. Emergency training includes rejected take-offs, emergency landings (including landing on water called ‘ditching’), emergency evacuations, cardiac and other in-flight medical situations (including on-board births and deaths), smoke in the cabin, fires, depressurizations, dangerous goods and spills in the cabin, and hijackings.
Ground StaffJob
Description:When a passenger reaches the airport she/he is often guided by people belonging to the Airport or Airline Ground Staff to the check-in counter. There other Ground Staff members seated behind the counter to issue boarding passes, check the baggage in and other duties.Ground staffs also help to make special arrangements to transfer passengers who required special assistance –those with disabilities, so on. They manage the check-in process by checking passenger ID cards, allocating seats, weighing the baggage, tagging and transferring the baggage to be loaded on to the flight.
07/05/18 T Muralidharan/Telangana Today