The volume of orders for new aircraft by Indian carriers has been grabbing headlines for months – 492 from IndiGo and 470 for Air India alone. As if that wasn’t enough, IndiGo announced yet another order for 500 more A320 family airplanes at this year’s Paris Air Show. The move secured future positions on the burgeoning Airbus assembly line.

The more than 2,000 new aircraft that will join India’s airline fleets will need a small army of pilots, yet the supply of experienced personnel is limited. The need is critical after many retired during the pandemic or sought employment in other industries. The shortage is particularly acute in the USA where airlines are forced to park and accelerate the retirement 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.

Trainees begin studying in India then move to Florida for 12 months of intensive instruction. Successful cadets earn their FAA licenses which they can then convert to DGCA licenses when they return to India, a process that takes two months. The final stage involves travel to Abu Dhabi for three months of additional training before receiving their Multi-Crew Cooperation (MCC) and A320 type ratings.

QUALIFICATION IS MORE THAN JUST ACCUMULATED HOURS

ICAO maintains that “relying solely on number of hours does not always effectively capture a pilot’s true competence.” The quality of a pilot “... can encompass a number of factors, including, but not limited to, training received, operational context, singleengine or multi-engine flight time, multi-crew operations and weather-related flight experience.”

While a pilot may have accumulated sufficient hours to be considered for hire, airlines must scrutinise the applicant’s background. IATA reported that operators are “experiencing licensing training limitations” with some approved training organisations and that “the standard of performance achieved at the end of training is not always aligned with the standard of performance expected by the operators.”

ICAO also believes “the industry has reached a crossroads in determining how pilots need to be selected, hired, trained, and professionally mentored for career growth.” The organisation has called for more attention to the quality of pilot training “... which depends on ... the capacity and training organisations, structure of training programmes, specificities and training tools ... qualification of ground and flight instructors, as well as adequacy of safety oversight by regulators.”

In other words, high quality training produces high quality pilots.

PRIORITY ON SELECTING QUALITY PILOTS

Given the sheer number of new pilots Indian carriers must recruit, especially since many will be off-the-street candidates with little or no flying experience, high-quality training is essential.

The best pilots are able to handle real-world situations, evaluate risks, have the skills and knowledge for quick decision-making, have a thorough understanding of automation and its limitations and, of course, have superlative manual flying abilities.

Moreover, they must be proficient in effective crew resource managementand know that human factors always play a role in flight safety.

It will be a tall order for India’s airline recruiting departments to fill because it takes years, not just hours, to produce a good pilot.