The flying training industry has been challenged and is an often-ignored industry. But with the up look of the Indian economy, the focus on skills training, the reduction of price of ATF, there is an increased requirement for pilots and hence the scope of employment of an airline pilot has firmed up.
The period 2008-10 saw an over-supply in the number of pilots available. Many went off to foreign countries, got an FAA license and came back to India to look for jobs, and there were none. By the time, an overseas license issued pilot went through the essential license conversion process to change their license to a DGCA issued pilot license, often 12-18 months, the jobs in India had evaporated.
However, the scene today in 2016 is quite different to 2010. Many pilots have taken jobs with the Middle-Eastern airlines; also many have reached the mandatory age, and have retired from active flying, and the need for pilots has appeared again. The fall in the value of the rupee has made it more expensive for airlines to hire foreign commanders whose salary is negotiated in Dollars or Euro’s.
In early 2015, Chimes Aviation has embarked on its ‘Train in India’ campaign to educate aspiring pilots on the huge benefits of undertaking flying training in India. It also embarked on an internal program to create capacity of hours that trainees can fly.
Under ‘Train in India’ the benefits are many. It’s cost effective compared to going to USA, Australia, Malaysia, etc. The CPL (Commercial Pilots License) issued is by DGCA as required by Aviation Law in India, so the pilot can immediately be eligible to get jobs with the airlines to fill their needs, rather than going through a 12-18 month license conversion time and the long investment needed.
Having informed people about the campaign, and with its large fleet of aircrafts, its own flying airport in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, the air space has been busy with flying training. The academy had upgraded its training fleet of Cessna 172-R aircraft, equipped with Garmin-1000 glass cockpit to Continental CD-135 engine, which operates with Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF). In mid 2015, CAA also got delivery and put in operation a Diamond DA-42 ATF aircraft for the multi-flying training.
All of this has shown positive results for Chimes Aviation Academy having flown more than 5,500 hours of training hours in the year. This is a record for any flying school in India and Chimes Aviation is proud to have set a high standard of flying training in India.
Paradigm shift in ab-initio pilot training in India.
Mr. Y.N. Sharma, Chief Operating Officer, Chimes Aviation Pvt Ltd stated:
“Chimes Aviation has successfully educated aspiring pilots to ‘Train in India’ and get employed. This focused effort has yielded our graduates getting jobs in all Indian-flag airlines and we have had a great run of hours flown in 2015-16. Our focus on safety, process based training, and efficientflying has yielded the student pilots and us good results.”
About Chimes Aviation Academy
Chimes Aviation Academy (CAA) ( http://www.caaindia.com) is a division of Chimes Aviation Private Limited, which is part of the Chimes Group of companies’ (http://www.chimesgroup.in).
CAA is India’s premier and largest private sector Aviation Training Academy based at Sagar, Madhya Pradesh. Launched in June 2008, Chimes Aviation Academy offers DGCA approved Commercial Pilot License (CPL) and Private Pilot License (PPL) fully integrated pilot training courses, supported with single and multi-engine aircraft and in-house maintenance services. CAA is an ISO 9001:2008 certified pilot training institute with over 30,000 hours of flying training experience.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.