TOI Finally seems to be changing directions
Mumbai: Nightmarish times are back for Indian pilots fresh out of
flying schools. As many as 600 Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL)-
holders are currently jobless and engaged in a nerve-wracking
competition to enter that coveted cockpit even as vacancies for the
post of trainee pilots have become as rare as on-time flight
departures.
On Monday morning, 400 pilots appeared for Kingfisher Airlines's
written tests conducted in a college in Kandivli (E). "Although the
number of vacancies this time was not known, the airline had about
250 candidates for its written tests held in January to fill just
four posts of ATR trainee pilots. The two pilots selected for A320
trainee pilot jobs were self-financed candidates, which means they
were to spend about Rs 20 lakh each on their type-rating (training
to fly a particular aircraft),'' says an aspirant.
On Saturday, as many as 550 pilots trooped into a school in Air-
India Colony, Kalina, for written tests for 15 trainee pilot jobs
(General Category, the rest were reserved for SCs/STs). "We heard
that about 250 applications were rejected. Considering that not all
pilots who applied would be jobless—since an AI job is the most
coveted one in the industry—by a conservative estimate there must be
about 600 jobless CPL holders out there,'' says a senior commander,
whose son managed to clear the "tough'' AI written tests.
"The Kingfisher Airlines written tests as usual were very tough,"
says another aspiring 21-year-old, who has appeared for seven
written tests until now with no luck.