The Indian government has carried several efforts to address the shortage of pilots in the country. In 2021, Flying Training Organisations (FTOs) produced 504 commercial pilot license (CPL) holders, the Lok Sabha was reported.
State for civil aviation, says
In a written response, General VK Singh (retd), the minister of state for civil aviation, declares, “The number of CPL holders made by Indian FTOs in 2021 is 504, which is taller than the 430 CPLs holders produced by Indian FTOs in the pre-COVID year 2019.”
- In a separate reply, the minister reported to the house that India needs 1000 fresh commercial pilots every year. Between 2017 and 2021, the number of CPL issued in India to cadets from Indian and foreign FTOs has gone to 862 from 552.
Directorate general of civil aviation
“At present, there are 34 directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA)-approved FTOs in the country. In addition, there are six approved training organizations (ATO) in India that give aircraft-type training to CPL holders. A CPL tracked by aircraft type rating given by DGCA, among others, constitute the mandatory conditions for applying for a pilot’s role in a commercial airline,” Gen Singh tells.
Airports Authority of India
- Describing actions carried by the government, the minister said, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has carried out a liberalized FTO policy wherein the concept of airport royalty (revenue share payment by FTOs to AAI) has been abolished and land rentals have been extremely rationalized.
On 31 May 2021 and 29 October 2021, the AAI gave award letters for nine FTOs to be established at five airports across the country. This includes two FTOs at Belagavi (Karnataka), two at Jalgaon (Maharashtra), two at Kalaburagi (Karnataka), two at Khajuraho (Madhya Pradesh), and one at Lilabari (Assam).
Further, to permit candidates to select the date and time from the available exam slots, in November 2021, the DGCA has introduced an online-on-demand examination (OLODE) for the aircraft maintenance engineers (AME) and Flying Crew (FC) candidates.
Also, read
- Turkish Airlines now starts Sustainable aviation fuel on its flights
- ATR completes test flights using 100% SAF in one engine
- Universal Hydrogen and Amelia to convert ATR 72-600s to be hydrogen-powered
The DGCA also changed its regulations to empower flying instructors with the right to permit flight operations at FTOs. Earlier, the right was restricted to the chief flying instructor (CFI) or deputy CFIs.
According to the minister, Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi (IGRUA), located at Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, the country’s largest flying academy, has been allowed to take out pilot training at Gondia in Maharashtra and Kalaburagi.
“This will help IGRUA to enhance its flying hours and aircraft utilization, which get hardly affected during winter months due to lower visibility.
IGRUA has commenced working on all weekends and holidays,” Gen Singh said. In 2021, IGRUA completed 19,019 flying hours reached 15,137 hours in the pre-COVID year 2019, an growth of over 25%.
Thank you
Stay updated with Aviationa2z.com