"The good guys will always get jobs, glut or no glut.."

Satish, a young Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) holder, is tense. He completed his pilot training last year from Phoenix after spending Rs 24 lakh. But despite applying to various airlines in India, he hasn’t got a single call. “There are too many CPL holders in the market,” he says. “I am getting desperate — I took a loan to fly and interest alone is Rs 15,000 monthly.”
Anand did his CPL from San Diego and was in the same boat. A spate of written tests, interviews….”The job scene is bad and those who roll out of the conveyor belt after a year will face huge competition,” he says.
That’s the sad truth for pilot aspirants — it’s no longer a cakewalk. Rather, it’s a big bazaar out there, and only the best are taken. Airlines confirm that there’s been a huge influx of young CPL hopefuls, swamping them in the wake of the aviation boom. And they’re getting picky about who they take, unlike two years earlier when walk-in interviews were common and jobs galore.
Ask Anand. “I couldn’t get past the written test in most airlines. In Air Deccan, the psychometry test did me in. The toughest test was in AI. The aptitude test had 65 questions to be done in 60 minutes, while the technical paper had 60 questions to be done in 90 minutes,” he says. “It was tough.”
AI (before the merger) has seen the greatest spurt of CPL holders in recent years. Says Jitender Bhargava, ED, corporate communications, “While in the past two years, the number of CPL applicants was about 50-60, our most recent advertisement saw applications swelling to 800. This is possibly because many Indians are undergoing pilot training overseas. Generally, about 20% get selected.”
In the erstwhile Indian Airlines, the most recent recruitment saw some 350 applications, out of which 181 were eligible for the written test — 91 qualified and finally, 71 were selected. “We select pilots every 4-6 months. But this time, the number of applications increased two-and-a-half times,” says a source. “We normally take about 25 candidates per selection. This time, we had to create two-three batches. I think stagnation is round the corner.”
Adds Capt J S Dhillon, EVP, flight operations, SpiceJet, “There’s been a glut in the market for CPL holders in the last 6-8 months. Out of 210 candidates called for interviews last year by us, 55 were selected. Though most airlines have ordered more planes, these will be inducted gradually only over the next 10 years. I foresee 50% of CPL holders not getting jobs.” Experts also emphasise that the shortage is for commanders as it takes four-five years to become one.
Same is the case in Air Deccan which has been doing interviews every two-three months. In December 2007, some 140 CPL holders came for the written exam, out of which 30-40 were shortlisted for interviews and 25 were selected, says Capt Rajiv Kothiyal, chief pilot.
Also, while earlier 65% was a good enough cut-off percentage for getting selected, now the bar has gone up to 75%.
Another disadvantage for fresh CPL holders is that some airlines have started their own cadet programmes. Take SpiceJet. Its cadet programme was started one-and-a-half years back. Fresh students are sent abroad for CPL training every quarter. “
However, there’s some hope. Jet and Kingfisher are recruiting more CPL holders. Jet holds interviews every alternate month and roughly 45% are selected, say sources. Kingfisher recruited freshers five times last year. Of the 390 candidates who came, 105 were selected, says Rubi Arya, AVP, human resources.
For students reading this, experts have a word of advice: get into flying for the love of it, not for the money. “Many don’t have either the aptitude or the inclination. We can make that out during the interview and psychometry tests,” says Dhillon.
There’s also general aviation (charters, corporate jets, etc) to fall back on. Yes, the money is less than commercial aviation and so is the flying, but it can be a stop-gap arrangement.
So what became of Anand? He got into AI last week. He says, “I feel great. This is better than I had hoped for. I got into a flagship carrier. I know it won’t shut down, the training is thorough and pilots are well-looked after. If I had failed to get into an airline, I would have become an instructor in a flying school and kept on trying till my dream came true.”
And that’s what matters: the passion for flying. “The good guys will always get jobs, glut or no glut. So check your aptitude first,” suggests Dhillon.
27/01/08 Shobha John/Times of India