Jet Airways medical!

[Jimmy The Big Greek]

I have read that all airlines in India have their own medical requirements.
Does anyone know what kind of requirements and tests Jet airways has?
I have heard that their vision requirements are pretty stringent but I don't know if its just a rumor.

found here: http://www.indianpilots.com/forum/index.php

For example it says here that jet airways does not allow more then +-2 diopters and no eye surgery allowed.

They also check the bmi, cholesterol etc

[flycold]

also I wonder do I need to reissue my medical in my country?
IMO if Indian authority requires issue of indian medical to work in india, I do not need to issue my medical in my counrty.

cheers!

[vgk1945]

Hello,
The top most medical licensing authorities, as far as aviation in India is concerned, are:-

Institute of Aerospace Medicine(Indian Air Force)
Airport Road
Bangalore 560017

It is bang next to the airport

and

Air force Central Medical Establishment
Subroto Park
New Delhi 110010

Due to geographical distances, a third centre has been opened in the eastern side of the country. It is called a 'Medical Evaluation Cell'.
They come under the Director General of Medical Services (Air) at Air Heqdquarters, New Delhi

All your intial medicals, re-cat after long lay off, every sixth medical etc are performed by these two/three bodies only. Individual airlines have no say in the whole matter. So saying that Jet Airways has another standard is not true. If IAM or CME clears a pilot, then if Jet Airways refuses the pilot on medical grounds, the pilot concerned can sue the airline.

Here is the full gen:

The Class 1 medical examination for the issue and renewal of licences will be
carried out by the Medical Boards at the Indian Air Force Centres listed in
Appendix ‘A’ subject to proviso as hereunder:


Initial issue of Licence - i) AFCME, Dhaula Kuan, New Delhi, IAM,Vimanpura, Bangalore

Every Third year renewal and every fifth six-monthly renewal as applicable: AFCME, Dhaula Kuan, New Delhi, IAM,Vimanpura, Bangalore, MEC (East), Jorhat

Or

any other centre at the discretion of DGCA.

Licences which have lapsed for a period of over two years - AFCME, New Delhi, IAM, Bangalore

After a period of unfitness - AFCME, New Delhi,IAM, Bangalore,MEC (East), Jorhat
Or
any other centre at the discretion of DGCA.

Where an applicant has not undergone a renewal medical the date of the last medical examination.- AFCME, New Delhi, IAM, Vimanpura, Bangalore, MEC (East), Jorhat

Where an applicant has not undergone a renewal medical examination for 30 months with respect to ALTP and 36 months with respect to CPL since last medical examination, the licence holder will have to undergo CIVIL initial issue medical examination. - AFCME, New Delhi, IAM, Bangalore

Special Medical Examination - AFCME, New Delhi, IAM, Bangalore, MEC (East), Jorhat
Or
any other centre at the discretion of DGCA.

Renewal medical examination above 60 yrs of age.- AFCME, New Delhi, IAM, Bangalore

All Appeal medical examination - AFCME, New Delhi, IAM, Bangalore

Licence renewal other than those specified above - As in Appendix A

Appendix A

The Air Force Central Medical Establishment, Subroto Park, Dhaula Kuan, New Delhi – 110 010, Institute of Aero-space Medicine, Vimanpura, Bangalore-560 017, Karnataka, Senior Medical Officer, Air Force Station, Kanpur-208 008, Uttar Pradesh, Senior Medical Officer, Air Force Station, Lohegaon, Pune-411 032,Maharashtra, Senior Medical Officer, Air Force Station, Begumpet, Hyderabad–500 011,Andhra Pradesh, Senior Medical Officer, Air Force Station, Cotton Green, Mumbai-400 033,Maharashtra, Senior Medical Officer, Air Force Station, Tambaram, Chennai-600 046,Tamilnadu, Senior Medical Officer, Air Force Station, Barrackpore, Calcutta, Senior Medical Officer, AirForce Station, Ambala – 133 001, Haryana, Senior Medical Officer, Air Force Station, Manauri, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, Medical Evaluation Centre East, at No. 5 Air Force Hospital, Jorhat, Assam.
Cheers
vgk1945

[Jimmy The Big Greek]

ok, thank you very much vgk1945. Are you sure about this because in this forum
they say the opposite http://www.indianpilots.com/forum/index.php

[hpcock]

Individual airlines have no say in the whole matter. So saying that Jet Airways has another standard is not true. If IAM or CME clears a pilot, then if Jet Airways refuses the pilot on medical grounds, the pilot concerned can sue the airline.



What vgk1945 says is not entirely true, infact it is completely untrue. Pls don't post on things until you have gathered all the correct facts & stop misleading people.

Jimmy, judging from your previous posts on another thread, I would assume that you have been accepted by Jet - if so congratulations & welcome to India.

The DGCA are the authority when it comes to the issuing of medicals, but airlines recognise that some candidates may come to them with their last medical having been conducted some months ago. It is simply a measure of prudency to run a company medical - afterall, it is not the DGCA that are paying your salary & it's not their planes you're flying.

I was subject to the same process at Kingfisher, before being let loose on their Airbuses. I have also run the Jet medical tests, passed them, but subsequently turned down their offer.

To say that the pilot who fails a company medical has the measure "To sue the airline" is a completely farcical. It is merely the opinion of a doctor based on the findings of tests run on you. Secondly, these tests are done by an independant medical institution, not Jet. They merely scan the results before providing their own diagnosis. If you tick all their boxes, then no need to worry - I'm sure you'll do fine. However, to touch on a point you raised at the top of this thread - BMI & cholestrol are top of the agenda in India.

Good luck mate & all the best
HPC

[bear11]

Flycold, my understanding is that you are on a DCGA validation while in India based on a valid licence issued in your own country - hence you need to keep your own licence and medical up to date. Unless the DGCA issue licences to expats like the GCAA in the UAE after 3 months (which involves exams, medical, etc), this will always be the case for expats in India. This a major point of contention with expats in India - some Indian airlines farcically refuse to pay for the cost of home medical, sim, etc, on the basis that it has nothing to do with them. Check your contract!

[vgk1945]

Hello hpcock,

I apologise if I have posted something that is not factually correct:rolleyes:

As you are in the field, your experiences may be more current than mine.

A problem that puzzles me is. "Can a company refuse a pilot if he has been cleared by the DGCA authorised medical examination agency?"

My guess is that they cannot. I will certainly do some more research on the subject.

I would request you to send me a PM so that I can get some more leads on my research.

Cheers
vgk1945




vgk1945

[peter1962]

Hello Bear11 and everybody,

Jet Airways specifies that "The Crew Member is responsible for renewing his license, medicals and proficiency from the jurisdiction of the licensing authority of the crew member's home country."

Does that mean that we do NOT have to undergo a medical test in India? (as long as our home country's medical is valid)


Thanks all for your help.

[Pretzel]

Guys...

Just to let you know.. the doctors are stingent on the BMI index... so do yourselves a favour and try and shed some pounds before hand. It will give them one less thing to complain about !

pretzel

[Jimmy The Big Greek]

Thanks for the replies. My cholesterol levels are very good but my BMI is 28 so I need to diet.

[kleini604]

Hi!

In the Jet Airways contract they are talking about a company medical examination which will entail a cardiac assessment through a stress test.

Does anybody know something about the stress test??? :confused:

Best regards,
Philipp :ok:

[henriksch]

hmm.. I have minus 2 and 3 on my eyes...Does that mean goodbye Jet Airways?

[Jimmy The Big Greek]

well according to some forums yes, but it could also be just rumors.

[divinesoul]

Hi guys

Well the various airlines in India have their own medical standards which might be a little more stringent than the Indian DGCA class 1 medicals.
I know guys who passed the written and sim assessment of Air India but werent given the job since they failed to meet the medical standard of AI.

And also i agree to every word that hpcock has said.

So just keep ur fingers crossed.


Good luck guys.:ok:

[funkywallace]

Hi guys!



Does anybody know the Indian and/or JetAirways policy regarding laser surgery?? I did it quite a few years ago and everthing is as good as gold,no problems at all and my medical has been always fine..

Is this going to be a problem in India??

I would really appreciate any information!!

Cheers,

[vgk1945]

Here is a post from an exclusive Indian Air Force Group. The mail is from an experienced IAF pilot who has also logged a lot of flying with airlines:
====
It appears that there is quite a bit of confusion regarding medicals and their validity - let me try and explain.
The medical authority for issue / renewal of Indian flying licences is either CME or IAM, period. The rules permit certain medicals to be periodically done at other air force medical establishments and also lay down which medicals have to be mandatorily done by CME / IAM, at what intervals and for which level of licence, age of licence holder etc.
An expat flying in India on a foreign licence is governed by the medical regulations of the country where the licence was issued - he has to get his licence renewed by doing a medical in that country (or through a medical representative authorised by that country to conduct medical examinations for the purpose in India, like an FAA authorised doctor) Since many expats are on contract with airlines in India, the responsibility of keeping their flying licences valid is generally a part of the contract and hence may insist that the costs of the medical be borne by the licence holder as a prerequisite to keeping the licence valid. Indian companies generally pay for the medical tests and licence renewal charges of their employees holding Indian licences.
Airlines do their own medicals on first employment for a different reason altogether - to see if the person they are employing is likely to remain medically fit for a sufficient period to enable recovering the cost and time they will incur on training (which incidently is far more than what is recovered from the employee by way of training costs). To this extent they may reject a candidate who they feel may have a condition (excess BMI at a young age, eyesight that may deteriorate etc.) that is not in the best interests of the company. This has nothing to do with the medical done by CME or IAM which cannot make one fail a medical if the person is fit at the time the medical is done and can only inform one about a problem that may arise in future. Hence a company medical cannot be challenged as it is done only at the time of granting employment, even though an appeal against it is usually looked into. Company medicals are generally confi ned only to persons being employed and not those coming with valid licences from other countries and serving on contract for a period of time. Such pilots are mostly already qualified on type.
That said, the requirement of medical fitness for issue / renewal of flying licences in India is extremely stringent as compared to other countries and IAM / CME tend to order tests that are enormously invasive and risky at the drop of a hat - something that is never done in other countries due to cost and other reasons. In fact I know of many pilots who prefer to work in a foreign country with a foreign flying licence because of the tension involved in undergoing periodic medical examinations in India and the fact that they will perhaps not make the grade compared to the simple medical procedures abroad even though the medical standards required for issue / renewal of flying licences are more or less uniform worldwide.
Cheers
vgk1945

[Jimmy The Big Greek]

I think you are right this time.

We are going to receive a "loss of license insurance" so probably its an insurance "thing". Most probable cause of loss of license is cardiac problems, so maybe Kleini is right about the cardiac stress test.

[vgk1945]

Hello,

I have gone through about 40+ medical exams with AFCME and IAM in India.
The basic cardiac stress test was the old 'Double Master'. They had something like a 'winners podium' that your see in various athletic meets. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize winners stand on these podiums. You have to climb up the podium, descend, turn around and repeat the procedure. That makes it a count of '1'. The numbers of times you have to do this is based on a chart. It depends on your age. The younger ones have to do more cycles while the elder ones have to do less.

Now I understand that the senior pilots have to do a treadmill at some defined intervals. There is a starting age for it. I cannot recollect that now.

Otherwise treadmills, Echo doppler and Holters are used only when some cardiac problem crops up and you are under observation.

Cheers
vgk1945

[hpcock]

In the Jet Airways contract they are talking about a company medical examination which will entail a cardiac assessment through a stress test.

Does anybody know something about the stress test??? :confused:



It is known as a TMT Stress Test. Very simply - walking at various speeds and gradients on a treadmill. You are wired up to a cardio monitor & your BP is checked at regular intervals before, during & after the tests.

You may also be subject to an ECG - discretion of the examining physician. Not many people fail the TMT - just get down to the gym 2 days in advance & practice walking uphill at quite a brisk pace for approx 10 mins.

The rest of the co. medical will involve blood tests, inc sugar fasting (Bio-chem & Haemotology). Urine sample, audiometry, visual imparement, Ht & Wt = BMI, & all the usual treats that await us.

Don't stress (no pun intended) about these tests. If you are in reasonably good health, you will get through. Airlines have doctors in their ranks, not to crucify you but to help you & more often than not to find solutions. They wont show you the door without a good reason.

Good luck & hope you all do well.

All the best
HPC

[Pretzel]

Stress test!? isnt that just work out on the thread mill with increasing pace but at the same time connected to the ECG monitor?!?

[Jimmy The Big Greek]

Thanks for allt the posts. I guess the best preparation is to go to the gym and shed some BMI.

Good luck to you all :ok:

[vgk1945]

Hello,

during the treadmill test, your are fully wired up for monitoring the ECG. The doc is on standby.

They try to step up your heart rate to about 160 or 180. Should some problem crop up before attaining those heart rates, the test is immediately aborted. Then you undergo deeper investigations like Echo Doppler, Angiogram etc.

One of the new airlines lost a good pilot a few months back. He was much junior to me and was a fit guy. He was some sort of a health freak and had bought a treadmill for normal exercising at home. There was no one to monitor him during his treadmilll. While on his daily treadmill routine at home, he collapsed and died. He would have over exercised past the danger point.

Sadly
vgk