Trainee pilots wait for their turn to take off

New Delhi: Scores of cadet pilots have been shown the door as airlines renege on their placement promises. With passenger loads falling, expansion is no longer a priority and the demand for cockpit crew is taking a knocking.
A whole bunch of just-trained pilots have their licence ready and a loan to pay back but no job. Around 500 cadet pilots, enrolled by various airlines, will not be absorbed anymore. Each of them had paid Rs 25 lakh to be trained and a majority had taken a loan to finance their training. The shortage of pilots two years ago had forced Kingfisher, Air India, SpiceJet, IndiGo and others to start the cadet pilot programme through tie ups with pilot training academies.
But with the slowdown hitting passenger load, new routes or fresh flights are completely out of the question today. As a result, cadet pilots were sacked even before they were appointed. The Delhi-based low-cost carrier, SpiceJet, has already scrapped its cadet pilot programme. It has absorbed only six out of 120 cadets and issued termination notice to others.
Air India, which is also cutting its operation, has not issued any termination notice as yet to its cadet pilots. But it is slamming the brakes on their induction.
Most cadet pilots are looking for other opportunities after their promised placements vanished into thin air. India’s largest training academy Yash Air’s MD Yashraj Tongia said, he has been approached by a large number of cadets seeking placements in the industry.
What’s worse around, 2,000 trainee pilots (CPL holders) are already waiting in the wings so any vacancy isn’t likely to trickle down to the cadet pilots who feature lower down the aviation pecking order.
27/10/08 Chanchal Pal Chauhan/Economic Times