There have been many news articles which have covered the state of unemployment among the CPL holders in India. I am posting the latest one below along with the web-link.
Many a dream of flying high has crashed - Bangalore - DNA
Many a dream of flying high has crashed
Friday, Jun 28, 2013, 14:06 IST | Place: Bangalore | Agency: DNA
With the aviation industry in a recession, hundreds of young men who spent lakhs of rupees to undergo courses to become commercial pilots are unemployed and broke.
A course culminating in a commercial pilot’s licence (CPL) could cost upto Rs 30-40 lakh in flying schools in India and abroad and nearly 7,000 pilots are without jobs, as airlines facing increased fuel costs and fewer customers have shed aircraft and routes, and more importantly staff, including pilots.
That has turned the of many aspiring pilots to dust, landing them in a debt trap, with many landed with huge loans from banks. To get a CPL, aspirants have to put in 250 hours of flying and class hours in a process that can stretch to three years, if not more. While the basic training would cost over Rs 20 lakh, conversion training on larger aircraft like Boeing would cost another Rs 10 lakh or more.
Interest in flying schools was sparked off by the boom in the aviation industry 2003-onwards, when new airlines like IndiGo, SpiceJet, GoAir, King Fisher, Deccan Airways came up, raising the requirements for pilots. However, in 2007, oil prices went up, and the situation was compounded by recession.
Ravi R (Name changed on request) says: “I got trained in India and abroad, spending nearly Rs 50 lakh. But, most airlines want experienced pilots with at least a year’s experience.”
Capt Ashok Arya, an ex-pilot who along with young pilots formed the All India Unemployed Pilots’ Association (UPA) told dna: “”About 7,000 pilots who have commercial flying licenses are currently unemployed. Many young pilots hailing from middle class families have taken huge loans for their training and are unable to repay.”
Many pilots in the association have taken up other jobs, and some have even started their own businesses, Capt Arya says. He laments that the civil aviation ministry wasn’t doing anything about it.
“There are 3,000 vacancies for the posts of Assistant Traffic controllers in the Airport Authority if India. The ministry can try its level best to fill these posts and revive the aviation industry,” he says recalling that during a similar situation between 1975 and 1997, Air India and Indian Airlines accommodated jobless pilots as flight dispatchers and operators.
John, a former Kingfisher airlines pilot, said about 300 KFA pilots were unemployed, with 30 of them in Karnataka alone. Although some of them had been absorbed by other airlines, given the situation, it was tough for those coming out of the portals of flying schools, he said.
Capt Rajesh Gilda, pilot with Kingfisher airlines since seven years, says: “Any new airline would prefer experienced pilots. One new airline just picked around 60- 80 King Fisher airline pilots. Currently, it is a bad phase for the new comers, and it might take another two years for things to settle down.”
Wing Commander (Retd) Amarjeet Singh Dange, the chief flying instructor at the Government Flying Training School (GFTS) in Jakkur, is hopeful that the government’s move in approving FDI in aviation will revive the aviation industry.