(a) whether the Indian civil aviation sector is facing shortage of Pilots for some time now;
(b) if so, the reasons therefor;
(c) the total requirement of Pilots by the booming civil aviation industry and how the Government proposes to meet the requirement;
(d) whether the Director General of Civil Aviation has cleared 1490 foreign pilots to work for Indian Civil Aviation sector;
(e) if so, the details and the reasons therefor; and
(f) the terms and conditions of their appointment?
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION ( SHRI PRAFUL PATEL )
(a) and (b):- With the exponential growth in the Indian civil aviation industry there is an increase in the number of scheduled and non scheduled operators with many of them going in for a fleet expansion programme including new types of aircraft. This has manifested in shortage of pilots.
(c):- The number of type rated pilots required for scheduled, non scheduled and private operators is 4754. Out of this, 3950 are Indian type rated pilots and 804 foreign pilots. The Government has taken various steps to reduce the gap between demand and supply of skilled pilots. These include conditionally increasing the age-limit to 65 years for pilots for exercising the privileges of their licences for commercial transport operations under prescribed conditions, upgradation and modernisation of training infrastructure of Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi (IGRUA) to enhance its training capacity, setting up of a world class flying training institute at Gondia, Maharashtra and assistance to flying clubs by allocating trainer aircraft through Directorate General of Civil Aviation/Aero Club of India.
(d), (e) and (f):- Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has cleared only 804 foreign pilots in order to meet the shortage of type rated Indian pilots. The validation are made as per the Civil Aviation Requirements issued by DGCA.