Kingfisher to tie up with foreign schools for pilots

Pune: A tie-up between Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) and aviation schools in the US and Australia is imminent, and the company will induct students who have been trained at specified institutions as pilots to address the needs of a fleet that will be nearly 100-aircraft strong by the year-end.
Mr Rajesh Verma, Executive Vice-President, KFA, said that those recruited would typically be Indian students who have received their Commercial Pilot Licences from these schools.
The norm for the industry is 10 pilots per normal bodied aircraft and around 22 for the wide bodied craft, and the shortage was of commanders rather than first officers, he said.
Announcing the launch of the Kingfisher Training Academy in Pune, Mr Verma said that the plan was to set up a dozen such schools in India for training youngsters for the aviation and hospitality industries during this year.
11/02/08 Business Line/Moneycontrol.com