Extension of Expat pilots...
NEW DELHI: After breathing down the neck of airlines over exorbitant spot fares, the government is all set to meet a key industry demand — letting expatriate pilots stay beyond the July 31, 2011, deadline of phasing them out. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has recommended "at least" two-year extension of this deadline to aviation ministry , while the industry was lobbying for a clean five year extension in one go.
Indian carriers and the two cargo airlines operating here — Blue Dart and Captain Gopinath's Deccan 360 — have told DGCA that they would collectively require 2,665 expat pilots till 2015. Airlines have told the ministry that unless the deadline is extended, substantial parts of their fleet would come to a grinding halt if the expats leave in go.
This issue was also discussed earlier this week at the aviation ministry's consultative committee meeting. "We are considering a two-year extension but no decision has been taken yet," aviation minister Praful Patel had said after the meeting. Extending expat pilots' stay in India has become a touchy issue due to two reasons: almost 4,500 desi commercial pilot licence holders are yet to find jobs after completing the training which cost them upwards of Rs 25 lakhs. Secondly, Indian pilots working with airlines complain that their career progression is suffering due to expats.
A senior ministry official said: "Airlines have always been reluctant to send back expats. That's why we made it mandatory for them to submit details of how they plan to hire, train and upgrade skills of Indian pilots so that expats are either not required or not in as many numbers as at present. Some may be required as airlines get types of aircraft that can be flown only by expats till Indian pilots are trained for that type of aircraft and get the necessary experience to be given the command of their flights for safety reasons."
On their part, airlines say they need expat commanders for their planes till such time that Indian co-pilots get the required experience to be promoted to that level.
"We cannot compromise with safety by suddenly phasing out expats and then having relatively inexperienced commanders and co-pilots flying aircraft ," said an airline chief executive officer.