extended to another 5 years..
One year.
And by the time Roy gets the qualifcation, requirements for expats will be.
i) Minimum flying experience - 4000Hrs
ii) Minimum PIC experience - 2000Hrs
iii) Minimum PIC on Type/variant - 500Hrs with current IR/LR check
iv) Minimum glass-cockpit experience - 1000Hrs
v) Recent experience - at least three takes-off and landings within the preceding 90 days on the type of aircraft applied for, or in a flight simulator approved for the purpose.
"qualified" in India means ATPL, 500 hrs on type as f/o and satisfying the company operation manual's requirement, which may mean 1500 hours total to 3500 hrs total depending on the company...
And DGCA takes 30 days to issue ATPL if you have met all the requirements.
Yes it goes like easy, manageable, hard, harder, hardest to impossible. Likely to be impossible after July 2011.
Despite the so called dearth of pilots, airliners have been flying, and more and more local F/Os are getting closer to qualifications required for the command.