(a) whether there is an acute shortage of pilots in the country;
(b) if so, the gap between demand and supply alongwith the steps being taken by the Government to meet the demand;
(c) whether the retired foreign pilots are allowed to fly our airlines;
(d) if so, the details and the justification thereof; and
(e) the details of aviation universities/ training and flying schools set up/ proposed to be set up to meet the requirements of the rapidly growing aviation sector?
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION
( SHRI PRAFUL PATEL )
(a) and (b):- Yes, Sir. Civil aviation industry in the country is facing a shortage of type rated pilots. In order to bridge the gap between the demand and availability of pilots, 944 foreign pilots have been engaged by various airline operators. The Government has taken various steps to reduce the gap between demand and supply of skilled Indian pilots. These include conditionally increasing the age-limit to 65 years for pilots, upgradation and modernisation of training infrastructure of the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi (IGRUA) to enhance its training capacity from 40 to 100 pilots per year, setting up of a world class flying training institute at Gondia, Maharashtra for training 100 cadets and assistance to flying clubs by allocating trainer aircraft through Directorate General of Civil Aviation/ Aero Club of India.
(c):- No, Sir. The foreign pilots are authorised to fly in India on the basis of their foreign licence issued by ICAO contracting State upto the age they can exercise the privileges of their rating and licence issued by the regulatory authority of the country to which they belong.
(d):- Does not arise.
(e):- At present there are 24 operational flying clubs imparting flying training. Government has decided to set up a world class flying training institute at Gondia, Maharashtra under the aegis of Airports Authority of India (AAI).