From
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/I...ow/2292829.cms
Conquering the skies at 25
20 Aug 2007, 0001 hrs IST,Manju V,TNN
MUMBAI: It's getting quicker to travel from the right-hand seat of a commercial aircraft's cockpit to the left-hand one. Until about a year ago, pilots in India had to wait till their late 30s to wear the four-striped epaulet of a commander. These days though, they get it all in their mid-20s.
Don't raise an eyebrow if you find a 25-year-old commander and 19-year-old first officer (co-pilot) at the controls of your next flight - it's just part of the latest trend that reflects the changing scape of the Indian aviation industry.
With airlines in the booming industry increasing their fleet, there are more vacancies at the helm. While 20-somethings are commanding single-aisle jets like A-320s and Boeing 737s, pilots are beginning to command 747s in their early 40s, something unheard of in the 1980s.
"Globally, the average age of a jetliner commander is about 45-plus, as a majority of pilots get to fly jets only after going through a long transition process, from single-engine aircraft to multi-engine turbines and finally jets," said Capt R Otaal, general secretary of the Indian Commercial Pilot's Association.
In India, as general aviation flying - on piston and turbine aircraft - hardly exists, pilots start their careers on airline jets. Though this has been the case all these decades, becoming the commander of a jet was still a long process that took five to nine years.
"I flew seven to eight years as a co-pilot before I was promoted to commander. That was how it was with all the pilots in our time. Vacancies were few as airlines did not purchase aircraft and you got a promotion to commander only when someone retired," said Otaal, adding that he was 38 years old and had about 7,000 hours of flying time as a co-pilot when he become an A-320 commander three years ago.
In the last two years though, co-pilots have been turning into commanders within just two years. The reason? "It has to do with the rapid fleet expansion by airlines, which has brought in plenty of vacancies for the top post. In the 1990s, there were about 600 unemployed pilots in the country and the ones employed did not move up the ladder due to a shortage of vacancies at the top," said Captain Ayodh Kapur, retired Air India commander and former director of the Federation of Indian Pilots.
The country's aircraft fleet grew from about 220 in 2005 to 380 in 2007, creating a huge demand for commanders. "Going by a conservative estimate, currently in India about 5% of commanders on single-aisle jet aircraft, like A-320s or Boeing 737s, are under 30 years of age. This trend will only grow," said Otaal.
So what are the rules for becoming a commander in India? According to Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) guidelines, a first officer (co-pilot) can graduate to command a particular aircraft after flying 1,500 hours as a first officer on it.
Although some airlines stick to this rule, others - like Jet Airways, Indian and so on - have raised the bar. But this, too, is being brought down.
"In 1972, an Indian Airlines co-pilot had to fly 4,800 hours to be eligible to become a commander. That was brought down to 2,750 hours in 1996. Now the airline is trying to bring it down to the DGCA minimum of 1,500 hours," said Otaal.
Other contributing factors include the fact that students are taking to flight training early and the process itself is quicker.
"In the 1940s and '50s, it took at least two years to become a pilot and so the youngest pilot was about 22 years of age," said Kapur. These days the training is faster and starts earlier.
Capt Yashraj Tongia of Yash Air, a flying training institute, said, "We launched a special programme for 12th standard students this year under which youngsters begin their paperwork to get a Commercial Pilot Licence much before clearing their HSC exams. The paperwork takes about six months. This way the student can gift himself a CPL on his 18th birthday."
In fact, some students complete their flight training much before they are 18 and then wait for their birthday to apply for the licence.
"At this juncture, when jobs are readily available, every month's delay is an opportunity lost, which the youngsters of today are careful to avoid," said Tongia.
Aviation safety experts are looking at the trend with caution. "If one becomes a commander after flying as a co-pilot for only two monsoons, there is a level of risk involved due to lack of experience."
"One must remember that a 19-year-old co-pilot may be sharing the cockpit with a 25-year-old commander - there are hardly any years of experience between them," said an aviation observer.
"The positive side is that younger pilots have sharper reflexes. In the 1960s, when the world was making a transition from piston aircraft to jets and Air India got its first Boeing 707, many older and much-experienced pilots could not make the transition. It was the younger pilots who did it," said Kapur.