General V.K. Singh, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, outlines government measures to tackle pilot shortage

According to a written statement from the Minister of State in the Ministry of Civil Aviation General V.K. Singh (Retd) on March 31 in the Lok Sabha, during the past three years CPLs were issued to 430 cadets from Indian FTOs in 2019, 335 in 2020, and 504 in 2021.

General V.K. Singh (Retd), Minister fo State for Civil Aviation.

With an annual requirement of around 1,000 pilots, but with hardly half that number of Commercial Pilot Licenses (CPLs) being issued to cadets from Indian Flying Training Organisations (FTOs), the Indian civil aviation sector is looking at a shortage of type-rated commanders. And a continued over-dependence on foreign pilots.

According to a written statement from the Minister of State in the Ministry of Civil Aviation General V.K. Singh (Retd) on March 31 in the Lok Sabha, during the past three years CPLs were issued to 430 cadets from Indian FTOs in 2019, 335 in 2020, and 504 in 2021. During the same period, the number of cadets who successfully converted foreign CPLs to Indian CPLs amounted to 314 in 2019, 243 in 2020 and 358 in 2021.

Last July, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture had flagged the situation over the shortage of pilots in India as a matter of grave concern. The committee had underlined the need for the Ministry of Civil Aviation to proactively initiate action to introduce tailor-made courses for enhancing skill development, research and training and to give serious thought to establishing new FTOs adjacent to at least one airport in each State.

According to General V.K. Singh, the government has already initiated several steps to meet the shortage of pilots in the country. These include the Airports Authority of India (AAI) bringing out a liberalised FTO policy wherein the concept of airport royalty (revenue share payment by FTOs to AAI) has been abolished and land rentals have been significantly rationalised and lowered.

The Minister disclosed that the AAI has issued award letters to establish nine new FTOs at five airports: two at Belagavi (Karnataka), two at Jalgaon (Maharashtra), two at Kalaburagi (Karnataka), two at Khajuraho (Madhya Pradesh) and one at Lilabari (Assam).

The government has also permitted India’s biggest flying institute, the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi (IGRUA) at Amethi (Uttar Pradesh) to carry out pilot training in Gondia (Maharashtra) and Kalaburagi (Karnataka) to enhance the FTO’s flying hours and aircraft utilisation, both of which get severely affected during the winter months because of low visibility at Amethi. IGRUA has also commenced operating on weekends and holidays.

Thanks to these measures, IGRUA, with its current fleet of 18 aircraft, has completed a total of 19,110 flying hours during the 2021-22 financial year, the highest since it was established in 1986.

IGRUA’s per aircraft utilisation in 2021-22 was 1,062 hours per annum. This is the first time in IGRUA;s history that it has crossed the magic figure of 1,000 hours per aircraft per annum. The previous highest was 782 hours per aircraft per annum, achieved in 2013-14.

The government, according to the Minister, has also introduced the Online-On Demand Examination (OLODE) for Aircraft Maintenance Engineers (AME) and Flying Crew (F.C.) candidates with effect from November 2021. This facility allows candidates to choose the date and time from the available exam slots.

The Minister further disclosed that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the statutory body for the regulation of civil aviation in India has “modified its regulations to empower flying instructors with the right to authorise flight operations at FTOs.” Hitherto, this was restricted to only the chief flying instructor (CFI) or deputy CFIs.