Having been through the entire thread, I don't really see the point of all the arguing, bickering, name calling. What good are we doing? Nobody at DGCA is reading this. Even if they are, it's too much of a hassle to bring about any change. Like someone once said, be the change. But slugging it out in forums will not do any justice to the cause.
I'm really nobody to even be qualified to talk about anything related to the expats. But I think I'll make an exception. Expats are here because they are needed. It's competition, it is up to us to get better and get those flying jobs. Competition is there in every line. If you really look, other fields are far more competitive. So blaming them for being here isn't the best way of handling this situation.
One thing I've realised about aviation. It isn't cheap. If you don't have the resources, it can be frustrating when the expenses just keep piling up. Plan Bs are more important than your Plan A. Plan B will help you put food on the table and if you're lucky let you fly to build your hours. I've been at it for more than a year. Sure it's frustrating but do I have any other option? No. So I keep plugging at it one measly hour at a time. Frankly getting a loan in this environment is not the best idea, especially when everybody knows about the job scene for a low time pilot. That loan puts a student under immense pressure to get a job to pay back the loan and this leads to frustration. No matter how much we are attracted to aviation, being in debt is just not worth it.
The GA scene in India isn't great. But it isn't non-existent. You have to go the remote places and sweat it out at hangers and airstrips just so somebody might give you a chance to fly that rusty old C152. Contacts are very important, if you are not a people person...it becomes that much more difficult. Believe me after having been in the automotive industry for more than four years, contacts are everything and aviation is no different.
Talking about quality of pilots in India. I was surprised to see some people training along side who simply lacked the aptitude to be a pilot. I know a lot of people who barely have 50hrs, but have a captain with their name. So there must be some truth to it when the expats say some people are arrogant and simply don't deserve to be where they are.
But not everyone is the same. There are a lot of people who will make good pilots in the future. My appeal to the expats, be a little considerate...the Indian road to aviation is a lot tougher than you might think.
The bottom line is, no amount of arguing on pprune is going to make any difference to the indian aviation scene.
MKS out.