SpiceJet’s expat pilot list to shrink
1 May 2009, 0352 hrs IST, Mithun Roy, ET Bureau
MUMBAI: Spicejet will not renew contracts of 55 foreign pilots, which are due to expire in June, October and December. “We will gradually replace
foreign pilots with Indian talent in order to reduce salary costs,” a senior SpiceJet official told ET. Currently, expat pilots are paid a monthly salary of Rs 5 lakh, plus hotel accommodation of Rs 2 lakh, whereas their Indian counterpart draw Rs 3.6 lakh in a month. Confirming the development, SpiceJet CEO Sanjay Aggarwal said the company will phase out foreign pilots and will follow the rules set by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Currently, SpiceJet has around 250 pilots, including expats. In 2005, the government allowed airline operators to hire foreign co-pilots, senior pilots or commanders till July 2010, as India did not have enough trained pilots. DGCA director general Kanu Gohain had said earlier that 1,490 foreign pilots were given licences last year to seek work in the Indian civil aviation sector. At present, India has 944 foreign pilots, of which 810 are commanders and 134 are co-pilots.
SpiceJet flew more than 4.59 million passengers in the last financial year, compared with about 4.50 million in the previous year. The airline has 19 aircraft, with nine more on order, which will join from early next year. It operates 117 flights daily to 18 cities.