Pilot Hiring News In India Is Mostly Positive
Ormond Beach, Florida: In a big turnaround from the past couple of years, almost all the news about pilot hiring in India in 2010 has been positive at least if you are an Indian citizen. With several thousand Indian pilots having trained to be commercial pilots over the past several years and waiting for those jobs, this is very welcome news.
Here is a list of some of the positive news in India regarding airline and other pilot hiring so far in 2010:
• Boeing India increased their estimate of airline purchases in India by more than 10% for the next 20 year period. Their forecast for airline growth implies that nearly 1000 pilots will be needed over that period each year to meet just the demand created by the expansion. Currently there are less than 400 airliners in India so this growth is huge. They estimate the purchases for new airliners will be 1150 aircraft over that period.
• Spice Jet has recently placed an order for 30 more B737s. This order will be added to the 7 additional aircraft already scheduled for delivery over the next 2 years. These orders alone mean that Spice jet will need 500 more pilots in the near term.
• Low Cost Carriers (of which Spice Jet is one – others include IndiGo and GoAir) are forecasted to nearly double their fleet size in less than 2 years. By adding 50 more aircraft, this market segment will require at least 700 more pilots over that period. IndiGo alone has announced that they will hire more than 100 pilots this year.
• By July 2011, the airlines in India must remove all the expat pilots. This will open 400 slots for Indian pilots. This will happen just as you finish your DGCA exams!
• Kingfisher Airlines announced this month (August) that they have an immediate need for pilots.
• The Indian Coast Guard is expanding and needs pilots.
• Jet Airways has recently recalled furloughed employees. Hiring for pilots there is expected to resume soon.
• Air India and Air India Express both announced this year that they are hiring pilots.
• All the airlines in India appear to be hiring this year in contrast to the past several years.
• India only has 90 airports. Most projections indicate a need to increase that number to 400 to meet the needs of the citizens. Many people believe that the Boeing and Airbus predictions for growth are conservative. All the major airports are involved in large expansion plans.
26/08/10 Press Release/PRLog