There is no shortage of pilots in the country. However, there is a shortage of Commanders on certain types of aircraft which is addressed by utilising foreign pilots through Foreign Aircrew Temporary Authorisation (FATA).
M/s Air India Limited and M/s Inter Globe Aviation Limited have given orders for purchasing new aircraft in the last one year. The airline wise details are attached as Annexure.
The Government has taken several steps to establish more flying schools across the country to train greater number of commercial pilots. These include the following:
i. 2021 onwards, after a competitive bidding process, AAI has awarded 15 FTO slots at 10 airports of which 5 are operational. Among these FTOs, Helicopter training is being imparted at Khajuraho.
ii. Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi (IGRUA) at Amethi has been permitted to carry out pilot training at Gondia (Maharashtra) and Kalaburagi (Karnataka) to enhance its flying hours and aircraft utilisation. Currently, there are 34 Flying Training Organizations (FTOs) in the country operating at 55 bases which are imparting flying training to cadets. During the current year 2023 (till November), a total of 1491 Commercial Pilot Licenses( CPLs) have been issued so far. The trend indicates a substantial increase in number of CPLs issued in comparison to previous years.
