India's aviation sector is soaring, but steep training costs, outdated infrastructure, and the long haul from a commercial licence to the cockpit are keeping pilots grounded.
Implementation of new norms, introduced in January to ease pilots' working hours, rest periods, has been deferred. Pilots complain of constantly-changing roster & being 'financial slaves'.
The civil aviation regulator found deficiencies and multiple violations of provisions by several post holders and staff, which could significantly affect safety.
Air traffic controllers cleared flights; not a safety lapse, says their guild. Civil aviation directorate initiates a probe into incident that occurred Saturday at Mumbai airport.
IndiGo says its flight from Indore was given landing clearance by ATC. DGCA has initiated a probe and de-rostered an air traffic controller involved in the incident.
Action comes in wake of 20-hr delay in Delhi-San Francisco flight, during which passengers were kept seated inside aircraft for hours. Mumbai-San Francisco flight also saw delay on 24 May.
Vinod Kannan acknowledged there were issues related to stretched working hours & assured pilots of tweaking the rostering system to make it more relaxed, said an insider.
Hizbut Tahrir believes in a state where non-Muslims do not have voting rights but they can make “complaints in respect to unjust acts performed by the rulers or the misapplication of Islam upon them”.
Trump has expressed optimism about reaching a tariff agreement ‘pretty quickly’, while Xi said that tariff & trade wars undermine the legitimate rights and interests of all countries.
At some point, Pakistan’s calculation has been, Hindus will rise in reprisal against their own minorities. That’s a crisis ISI has been conjuring up in India. A nation at war with itself.
Great article, should also focus on how Indian airlines are among the few in the world that impose a strict age limit of 30 years for fresh pilots, making those above this threshold ineligible to apply. This policy has disproportionately affected aspiring pilots who, due to circumstances beyond their control, have been unable to secure employment.
The collapse of Jet Airways in 2019 led to experienced pilots taking available positions in existing airlines, significantly reducing opportunities for new pilots. This situation worsened with the impact of COVID-19 and was further compounded by GoAir’s downfall in 2023. As a result, many pilots who were 24 years old in 2017 aged out of eligibility by the time hiring resumed—despite investing significant time and money in their training. This effectively creates a system of age-based discrimination, penalizing pilots for industry disruptions beyond their control.
Additionally, while media reports highlight a pilot shortage, airlines continue to overlook unemployed pilots in favor of reducing costs. Instead of hiring sufficient staff, they opt to overwork existing pilots, even challenging court-mandated rest regulations designed to ensure passenger safety and pilot well-being. Rather than investing in adequate staffing, airlines justify their stance with misleading claims that improved work conditions would reduce flight availability and increase ticket prices. In reality, these cost-cutting measures come at the expense of both safety and operational efficiency.
Great article, should also focus on how Indian airlines are among the few in the world that impose a strict age limit of 30 years for fresh pilots, making those above this threshold ineligible to apply. This policy has disproportionately affected aspiring pilots who, due to circumstances beyond their control, have been unable to secure employment.
The collapse of Jet Airways in 2019 led to experienced pilots taking available positions in existing airlines, significantly reducing opportunities for new pilots. This situation worsened with the impact of COVID-19 and was further compounded by GoAir’s downfall in 2023. As a result, many pilots who were 24 years old in 2017 aged out of eligibility by the time hiring resumed—despite investing significant time and money in their training. This effectively creates a system of age-based discrimination, penalizing pilots for industry disruptions beyond their control.
Additionally, while media reports highlight a pilot shortage, airlines continue to overlook unemployed pilots in favor of reducing costs. Instead of hiring sufficient staff, they opt to overwork existing pilots, even challenging court-mandated rest regulations designed to ensure passenger safety and pilot well-being. Rather than investing in adequate staffing, airlines justify their stance with misleading claims that improved work conditions would reduce flight availability and increase ticket prices. In reality, these cost-cutting measures come at the expense of both safety and operational efficiency.
Well researched……mostly