Pilot shortage to intensify

New Delhi: If the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) latest warning to the world’s airlines is anything to go by, the industry will soon need 17,000 new pilots annually due to expected growth of the industry and retirements.
Till recently, this was primarily an Indian problem, where the growth of new carriers and fleet had given rise to a situation where even public sector airlines had begun to eye pilots and crew from overseas.
This is now however expected to be a global problem, so salaries of pilots in India may have to rise even further, if existing staff and talent is to be retained.
“This can severely hit the Indian carriers as expat pilots who have left their countries may prefer to return,” said a DGCA official, adding that working conditions in India are not particularly enticing.
A number of expat pilots have also found Indian airports more challenging to work in as incidents that occur on the ground are more common than those in the air. “We have anticipated this kind of shortage,” says SpiceJet director Ajay Singh.
His airline is picking up graduates straight from college, sending them to flying schools in the US and to Emirates in Dubai for their first officer licence.
Although the DGCA has been trying to get many of them working, only 17 of the 40-odd flying schools are in operational status.
The ministry had roped in the Aero Club of India to identify a number of private flying schools, several of which had fallen into disuse. 10-12 of these schools are to be given trainer aircraft and some assistance to revive themselves.
As yet, largely unheard of in India, IATA has been encouraging multi-crew pilot licensing (MPL) training, a subject of great controversy globally. Such training will allow trainees to put in less hours of flying and more in a simulator.
03/12/07 Anjuli Bhargava/Business Standard