TRAINING PILOTS

of regional jets for lack of crew. Accordingly, United Airlines has indicated its mainline airplanes will start flying to some cities previously served by its regional partners.

Sourcing Experience Pilots

Historically, major carriers sourced new pilots with military and regional airline flying experience yet the numbers provided by these groups isn’t sufficient to meet the exceptional demand. Unlike the USA, India does not have a well-established regional airline industry from which it can tap into qualified talent eager to advance to a mainline career. Regional airlines themselves are competing for pilots and must pay lower salaries on their smaller-capacity jets and turboprops.

Aircraft Manufacturer Investments

Airbus and Boeing estimate India needs between 31,000 and 34,000 new pilots over the next 20 years to manage crew attrition and to fly the new airplanes coming online. Both manufacturers are investing in training and facilities to help build the pilot workforce.

Airbus has its own pilot and maintenance centre near New Delhi which includes A320 full flight simulators, and computerbased classroom, aircraft procedures, and pilot transition training. It also has a training centre in Bengaluru. Boeing recently announced a $100 million investment for pilot training programmes and training infrastructure in the country. It also signed CAE as its authorised provider in India for the OEM’s Competency-Based Training and Assessment training curriculum.

Massive Recruiting Drive By Indian Carriers

Recruiting some 30,000 new pilots is a continuous process for airlines but the orders for new aircraft has intensified those efforts. Without a pool of qualified candidates from which to choose, and with competition for experienced cockpit personnel worldwide, Indian carriers put out the call.

Catchy headlines on advertisements like “Fly into the Future with Air India” and “Are You Ready to Max It?” appeared in publications across India soliciting new hires for Air India and Air India Express cockpits. The messages succeeded in generating over 700 applications in just one week. Both AI and AIX conducted in-person recruiting drives in New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru.

Air India’s requirement for new pilots is particularly acute given the speed at which it and Air India Express are adding new airplanes. AIX has hired more than 280 pilots since last October and will begin training crews on the first of 190 B737

MAX jets that start arriving later this year. Combined, Air India and AIX have added more than 500 new pilots to their rosters since January.

Air India is adding about 50 pilots each month, about five times the airline’s pre-privatisation rate, yet the number isn’t sufficient to crew the B777s and A350s joining the fleet in the next 12 months. Accordingly, it has temporarily hired expat pilots to fly those types until it can staff them with its own employees.

The insolvency of Go First Airlines makes its flight crew attractive candidates for Air India, IndiGo, and Akasa Air because of their flying experience and rating on the Airbus A320. IndiGo is recruiting to staff the 40 to 50 new aircraft it will add this year.

DO THEY HAVE THE RIGHT STUFF?

In the absence of sufficient numbers of experienced pilots on the market, airlines have developed their own training programmes, often in partnership with accredited flight academies that follow strict airline-oriented curricula.

Applicants for cadet pilot positions at IndiGo, for example, are first evaluated on their temperament, mental aptitude, and potential to become airmen and airwomen.

They are assessed on their ability to monitor and react quickly, multi-task, control complex situations, their sense of direction, plus other criteria that measure coordination and behaviour. If they pass the company’s screeners, they must complete a customised course with the airline’s training partner, Skyborne Airline Academy in the USA.

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