Bombay flying club to be revived soon

The Bombay Flying Club, country’s oldest flying club is out of service for the last 18 months, now the Club management is trying its best to revive it. “We are in the process to restart the club in the coming months as soon as we get things in the right place. We don’t have chief flying instructor (CFI) for flying operation of the club, the shortage of pilots in the Indian aviation market is the cause of concern to us, as flying instructors are opting for the airlines rather than flying club. They are paid four to five times higher than in flying club,” BL Bijlani, secretary of the Club said at an event recently. “Since we didn’t have a CFI, we couldn’t conduct any flight training. We do have ground training activities, but once those are completed, students have to wait to complete their flying hours,” Bijlani added.
Further, on the elaborating on the course fees to become commercial pilots, he said, “it will cost 17-20 lakh, whether you do it here or abroad and the fees is in no way going to come down, as the operational cost is going on increasing.” Expressing his concerns to revive Bombay Flying Club, alumni of the club, Capt Arun Godbole, Principal of Institute of Aviation and Aviation Safety, an education wing of the Federation of Indian Pilots, said it will be very difficult for Bombay flying club to operate from the current Juhu aerodrome in Mumbai, because of the increased air traffic. If possible they can take the plane 50 to 60 km away from Mumbai and can teach flying there.
On the CFI, he said that there must be some formula worked out among the flying clubs and airlines, giving some incentives to the current pilots working for the airlines to come forward and do some voluntary work for the flying clubs.
Till now, aspiring pilots, who have done ground training in India have no other option, but to go to foreign countries to complete their flying. The shortage of CFIs has been very troublesome, as students had to wait for a long time to finish accumulating their flying hours and hence majority turn abroad. But the move to start flying activities in Mumbai and Baroda will be a relief, said a source.
13/04/07 Nehul Jagdish Kumar/Merinews