Reports of Akasa Air, initiating legal action and seeking ₹21.6 crore as compensation from 43 of its former pilots for leaving without serving their six-month notice period, and in turn, India’s youngest and low cost airline suffering significant flight cancellations — 600 in August and about 700 in September — have again spotlighted a core issue airlines in the country are facing: pilot shortage.
India is now the third largest aviation market, with the UDAN Yojana (the Regional Connectivity Scheme) playing a role. India’s airlines are also making periodic announcements of aircraft deals, fleet inductions and pilot additions — Air India recently inducted a few hundred pilots who include expatriates — but beyond the gloss, the hard truth is a mismatch between aircraft and availability of (experienced) crew. As an aviation expert says, ‘It is easier to get planes than pilots.’
Also read: Explained | The troubles of India’s aviation industry
Rise in CPL issuance
Data by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) show a gradual rise in the issuance of commercial pilot licences (CPL): 640 (2018); 744 (2019); 578 (2020); 862 (2021) and 1,061 (2022). In 2021-22, there were 8,508 pilots flying in India.
A single aisle aircraft requires between 12 to 14 pilots and a twin-aisle about 25 pilots for an airline to ensure regular operations. Given the 1,100-plus new aircraft orders (a mix of single and twin aisle) by Indian airlines, the number of flight crew needed is estimated to run into a few thousands.
On the ground there are 34 DGCA approved Flying Training Organisations (FTOs) at 52 bases (November 2022 data), being run under the central and State governments, as well as the private sector. In addition, there are about six approved aviation training centres with 40 simulators. The difference now is that private flying academies are also getting licences. Airlines too are going ahead with their training plans. In an exclusive interview with The Hindu, in Chennai, in May 2023, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson highlighted extensive plans for a pilot training academy and creating an aviation ecosystem that looks at flying schools. Indigo too has its own plans for an academy.
Aviation consultants have highlighted the need for more flying institutes, airlines having their own training and even enhancing a tried and tested third route, namely, hiring foreign pilots. On the issue of foreign pilots, there are less than a 100 foreign nationals in India (DGCA data), but to retain talent here, the issue revolves around tax incentives. Cadet pilots have their woes too.
While the data and plans look rosy, there are more serious issues dogging the industry, which senior crew and cadet pilots highlight. Captain Sam Thomas, President, Airline Pilots Association of India (12,000 hours of flying experience), says, “The present shortage of pilots is because it is so difficult to run a flying training centre as the corrupt officials throw the book at you that was published way before Independence. The medical standards are managed by Indian Air Force doctors, grounding quite a lot of civil pilots. Airlines have also begun to charge cadets for type rating. A course that costs ₹18 lakh jumps to almost a crore with airlines charging fees under one pretext or the other. The airlines pressurise the DGCA to promulgate rules that are blatantly illegal and the judiciary constantly gives judgement without application of mind despite knowing the labour laws well.”
Captain A. (Mohan) Ranganathan, a former airline instructor pilot and aviation safety adviser and also a former member of the Civil Aviation Safety Advisory Council, says the pilot shortage is most acute in the captain’s category. There are many commercial pilot licence holders who can be trained as copilots, but this requires detailed planning. Airlines are cutting corners in training and safety measures. The civil aviation requirements for scheduled transport were written when flying was less and aircraft numbers were low. Another issue is gaps in training and a shortage of qualified trainers.
The next area of impact is in operations and training. Another senior commander (close to 20,000 hours of flying and 5,500 hours on the Airbus A320 simulator as trainer/examiner) says that with a pilot shortage, attempts have been made to reduce the minimum requirements for copilot to commander upgrade, resulting in a less experienced pilot, which in turn could seriously impact safety standards. This is an opinion that is seconded by another senior commander (16,000-plus hours and 35 years of flying).
With more aircraft induction and thereby higher costs in terms of training, there is pressure from airlines on the regulator to reduce pilot flight duty time limitations “to achieve higher output in terms of hours”. That the expansion of the aviation industry should have be a structured, planned and regulated is a point echoed by the commander. Training facilities in India, adds the commander, can be described in one word: ‘inadequate’. The senior pilot also adds the point that pilot cadet programmes need to be strictly monitored, with a transparent breakup of the money being charged. “It is unfair and immoral for huge airlines to profit out of trainees who take loans to start a career.”
Thus, there needs to be a structured approach and clear quantification of demand versus supply; the infrastructure, syllabus and quality of training should be explicitly defined comparable to good institutions abroad rather than continuing with the existing broad guidelines; and, finally, a focus on quantity and quality of instructors in flying schools.
Also read | DGCA tells HC it cannot interfere in employment agreement between pilots, Akasa Air
Cadet pilots’ issues
The cadet pilot in general also faces many issues, as two cadet pilots training in the private sector (one cadet close to 140 hours and the second who has finished 185 flying hours), highlight. The core issues are the average cost of pilot training being close to a crore of rupees; flying clubs increasing their flying charges without any prior notice and the DGCA having no regulations on training costs.
The Airports Authority of India has introduced an integrated flight planning website where cadets have to pay for every flight plan filed for cross country flights and checks to controlled aerodromes. Earlier, they say, flight planning was free for general aviation and flight schools.
On the ground, the instructor-student relationship needs to be on an even keel or else there are many unpleasant repercussions. Examinations are, most often, conducted without proper planning. But the DGCA’s e-governance platform/portal, they add, has made handling issues easier especially when it comes to licence issue and renewal.
Both cadet pilots also highlight that foreign training is very different from what it is in India: while a cadet pilot there has much freedom in planning their flying, cadets here face restrictions in certain manoeuvres and where they can land.
Most training bases too operate from uncontrolled aerodromes which do not have established navigation aids, forcing cadet pilots to depend on controlled aerodromes for instrument training. These aerodromes in turn face pressures from existing commercial flights.
Finally, as jobs go, it is still uncertain. When airlines fold up, it is the experienced pilots who are given preference in the job hunting. Many airlines now require pilots to do their own self-sponsored type rating, they add.
With the problem of pilot shortage and its associated consequences compounding, the aviation ecosystem does need to brainstorm and have clear visibility and a runway to viable solutions.
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