Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Fresher pilots struggling for jobs
TOI reports: 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.
A couple of years ago, when the aviation was seen taking off, there was a lot of talk about 'shortage of pilots'. Two years later, it seems there are too many.
The moral of the story is you can't pick a career based on 'demand' for it!
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.
A couple of years ago, when the aviation was seen taking off, there was a lot of talk about 'shortage of pilots'. Two years later, it seems there are too many.
The moral of the story is you can't pick a career based on 'demand' for it!
# posted by Rashmi Bansal @ 11:08 PM 
Comments:
<< Home
There is still a huge demand for piots in the Indian Aviation Industry. With all these small budget airlines comes a whole lot of new openings.
However there is a major flaw & I'll agree with you on that one. Most pilots that are getting jobs are self financed canidates. As in any job, there is always going to be competition for new spots that open up. But the aviation industry is a seriously cut throat one. As the daughter of pilot, I see & hear about its inner workings every day. I definately do think that there is a huge 'clique' among pilots & its very hard for newbees to break in. I see how easy it is for kids of family friends (parents & the kids I've grown up with, all pilots) secure jobs with companies that daddy works in. And it doesn't even matter where they've qualified from in terms of their CPL & if they're straight out of high school, or they actually have solid academic foundations behind them.
There's a lot within the aviation industry, especially in India, that people aren't aware of. Ofcourse there's a shortage of jobs. Why else would the rate of foreign pilots employed by Air India be on a rise?
Money & power takes you places. And that's very true for any job sector in India.
However there is a major flaw & I'll agree with you on that one. Most pilots that are getting jobs are self financed canidates. As in any job, there is always going to be competition for new spots that open up. But the aviation industry is a seriously cut throat one. As the daughter of pilot, I see & hear about its inner workings every day. I definately do think that there is a huge 'clique' among pilots & its very hard for newbees to break in. I see how easy it is for kids of family friends (parents & the kids I've grown up with, all pilots) secure jobs with companies that daddy works in. And it doesn't even matter where they've qualified from in terms of their CPL & if they're straight out of high school, or they actually have solid academic foundations behind them.
There's a lot within the aviation industry, especially in India, that people aren't aware of. Ofcourse there's a shortage of jobs. Why else would the rate of foreign pilots employed by Air India be on a rise?
Money & power takes you places. And that's very true for any job sector in India.
yup i m agreed with u bt because of rush in the pilot line makes airlines to select the person as according to their choice. only because of this they are damanding the money for type rating from the candidate only.wat i m thik is that this is not the end of this boom, in coming days there wil be jobs for the pilots bt the fact is that there wil b much more candidate for those jobs so naturally it becomes competetion.
Post a Comment
<< Home
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]