IAF facing shortage of pilots: official

Kolkata: The Indian Air Force was facing a shortage of pilots as the younger generation prefers to join commercial airlines.
“When a pilot of a commercial airlines gets around Rs 2 lakh at the start of his career, those in the air force gets around Rs 20,000 monthly and naturally they are keen to join the private airlines,” Air Marshall S K Bhan, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Region told reporters here today.
“In our days we came to this profession because of the challenges and not for the money, but times have changed and for youths today money has become a priority,” he said.
Asked what was being done to check this, Bhan said “We have a commercial tie up with Air India where we will provide pilots when we have an excess. So far we have sent 18 pilots to Air India.”
15/02/08 PTI/Sify