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!
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