Its been a pretty heated thread to say the least...
Well I too am a ’still wet behind the ears’ CPL holder with somewhere close to tradewinds’ experience... I sure don’t have the kind of money he has (though it would be nice to have it) but I guess I am in the same situation as him...
He has been pretty well reprimanded by all concerned for saying his piece, which fundamentally was not totally off the mark but his fault I guess was that he didn’t sugarcoat it or dress it nicely as we all have become used to...
His statement whether made as a joke or seriously; have a shock value and have clearly struck a chord which no one can deny...
I confess I do not know the industry too well,I am a junior and learning. My knowledge is based partly on second hand info (what I have heard from my seniors, peers and others in the industry in responsible positions) and from my limited experience with the DGCA. I
do not go by what I read in Indian papers coz they; as most of us know call a aerobridge hitting a stationary aircraft "a life threatening accident" and "near death experience for passengers"…
I have been following the events that have been taking place in Indian aviation for a longtime now and have made some observations of mine that i would like to share with others.
Please bear in mind that what I am stating here is from my personal experience and from what I have seen in the last couple of years....
Fact is that in India we definitely have a 'holier than thou attitude' but we are open to bending rules to accommodate those who have influence be it with money or otherwise.
I guess we guys are hardwired that way, if we are told something cannot be done we don’t accept it as gospel, but go about trying to find ways around the hurdle, some call it our strength some our weakness. But at the end of the day what remains is that we DO BEND RULES to suit us.
I know of people clearing their written exams without appearing for them, people getting endorsements without the requisite hours/training and people getting into airlines simply because their parents/relatives are in positions of influence. To say to the contrary would be incorrect. But to paint everyone with the same brush is also wrong.
Fact: Paying will get your license without hassles. I was told by agents that they can speed up my work at the DGCA when I applied for my license conversion and some of my friends did
"avail of this facility"!!
I didn’t have the cash; as it is since job offers weren’t exactly raining from the heavens I was in no rush and went through the official procedure. It took me little more than a month but yes I was made to run from pillar to post to get documents that did not seem to make any sense (can someone please tell me why the DGCA wants me to get my 10th standard board authority to give a letter saying I am more than 18 years old when my marksheet says so?? also isnt my passport proof enough??
) and my pals who used the agents didnt have to do a lot of this running around.
Fact: You do need some inside "help" to land that first job (more so in India because unless you are Chuck Yeager reborn you too have just the same 250 hours on cessnas like everyone else), but please tell me where in the world does this not happen? Even if you are in the States if you knew the chief pilot personally doesnt it give you an edge, even if it is simply his telling you what to expect in the interviews? Would you not say that it is unfair to candidates who do not know him??? I guess this happens everywhere only the degree varies. No system is perfect and like it or lump it its upto you...
As Vimanman mentioned about the AI's recent selection things were done that was not completely transparent. I too was disappointed but let’s be practical if it were a private airline I guess this would have been accepted without any hitch since they reserve absolute right to take who they want.
However this being a govt owned and operated airline people specially those like me expected some modicum of merit to be considered. 18 year olds were selected when Engg graduates were there, people with prop experience were not called for interview while those with just 10 hours of multi time were taken despite the ad saying grads and turbo prop will get preference.
FACT: Paying will get you the first job. Whether you pay for your own TR or for an agent. Consider paramount’s case. No one is saying that they are wrong in asking trainees to pay for their type rating but is it morally correct for them to milk the fresher simply because he is in a fix? Would they have dared to this back in 2003 when it was hard to get anyone? worldover the norm is (and please correct me if i am wrong) that an airline takes your after assessing your learning curve and then rating you and keeping you with them on a bond.. Eventually isn’t he going to work for them? Is paramount really so desperate for cash that it needs to resort to these schemes? Aren’t merit and competency again taking a hit in this?
Everyone here is going on and on about how pilots especially senior captains should be professional and set an example for the fresher. But where are these same captains when it comes to helping and mentoring the fresher?? I do not hear anything about them telling the airline that it’s not morally correct to squeeze a trainee or going even a small distance to help him out..
In India we are expected to build experience but with GA as good as nil how is one supposed to do that?? For years when the boom happened people were taken to A320 right seats with barely the ink dry on their licenses... This led to everyone with money and "the passion" to fly to go for their licenses abroad.
Now this lot is coming back to a situation where there are no jobs and the one recruitment that took place in a very long time was also not transparently done.. I do not for a moment say that people who got in are not good, but the manner in which this was done did more damage to the reputation and morale of the rest than any benefits the airline will ever accrue...This has led to a lot of heartburn in youngsters like me...
I am not trying to assign blame anywhere, things are how they are and those who are now searching for jobs will have to wait a long while for openings (if they did not take the pain to research and learn about the cyclic nature of aviation it’s their fault) but one expects a level playing field and not to be handicapped simply coz we don’t have the money or know some big shot...
I do believe that Tradewind crossed a certain line with his language but do not think that anything he has said was incorrect. So I would like to ask everyone who is not a pilot in India/aspiring to be a pilot in India or has dealt with the situation down here first hand please lets not judge tradewind or some of us on the basis of his first post alone. He is simply saying how we freshers with no 'godfather' to get any airline or major scope to improve our skill and knowledge in out own country are feeling; albeit without being politically correct…
I am open to constructive criticism and other points of view and these are solely my views maybe others have had better or worse experiences in India and I would like to welcome them to share it with us… after all isn’t that the whole point of having this forum…to find someone with more info, experience and knowledge to guide us???
Cheers
I live by a code and the code is simple…. Don’t hit something unless you plan to hit it and even then be gentle for heaven's sake!