Indian Aviation Sector- The Changing Dynamics

“A major challenge in absorbing this rapid growth of aviation would be to ensure that it takes place without increasing mishaps”

Captain: Ronak Shah

Principal, Institute of Aviation and Aviation Safety, Mumbai.

In the First half of previous year air traffic in India grew at a phenomenal rate of 24 % which is the highest in the world and has continued to grow unabated. This growth is bound to change the dynamics in the Indian Aviation Sector, which will have to be anticipated and addressed to make sure that the growth is achieved smoothly and safety.

Existing Airlines are expanding their capacities by introducing additional aircraft and new airlines are permitted to commerce operations.There is a likelihood of over 100 aircraft being added in the next five years. At a conservative estimate this will require 50 additional sets of pilots. Another 200 sets will be required to cater to retirements, migration and requirements of flying training units. We will have to train about 1400-pilots and 700 captains. A challenging task that will stretch the training capacities of the airlines to their limits.

Unplanned expansion in the requirement of qualified personnel has increased the attrition rate of licensed categories like pilots and engineers. Certain steps have already been initiated to guard against this, but these steps are at best temporary ad hoc arrangements. There is no alternative to training adequate number of required personnel to ensure long-term growth on a sustainable basis.

Training of licensed personnel in general and pilots in particular has limitations as exacting standards have to be maintained and short cuts are neither desirable nor permitted. To make matters worst, flight instructors from flying schools are being sucked in by airlines thereby creating a vacuum which will adversely affect pilot training at home. A concerted effort needs to be made to create infrastructure, environment and conditions for smooth and efficient pilot training to ensure availability of well-trained pilots, which is a prerequisite to ensure safe operations. This will take time and effort.

In the interim period, expansion will have to be carried out in three stages.

In stage one, the undesirable step of inducting foreign pilots on short-term contracts to tide over the immediate requirements would have to be taken. This better than letting foreign airlines carry our loads while our aircraft remain grounded for wants of pilots.

At the same time, step must be initiated to ensure that flying schools in India are reorganized and the infrastructure and working conditions in them are improved to ensure efficient and rapid pilot training of a high standard in required numbers.

Stage two would involve sending students abroad to good flying schools to obtain Commercial Pilots License (CPL) and Instrument Rating (IR) which are the entry level requirements of co-pilots by airlines. The procedure for conversion of a foreign CPL & IR and type endorsement to an Indian CPL, IR and type endorsement would have to be made seamless and smooth. The existing procedure for conversion of foreign license to an Indian one is cumbersome and time-consuming.

The regulatory requirement of giving a license only on aircraft registered in India prevents students from carrying out training on newer and better aircraft when abroad. Unfortunately, training aircraft registered in India are ancient. So our students going abroad are forced to look for school that are willing to train on aircraft that have gone off the production line 15 to 20 years ago with obvious maintenance problems and obsolete avionics and systems.

This is unbecoming of a country that boasts of being the IT and knowledge sourcing hub of the world.

Flying training carried out properly on any type of aircraft is good enough to enable a pilot to meet the entry-level requirements on an airline. So we need to make rules more pragmatic. In any case, the type endorsement training of co-pilots is quite elaborate and stringent and ensures minimum safety standards.

In fact, airlines should be permitted to induct Indians returning with a foreign CPL & IR directly with the proviso that their licenses may be converted to Indian license during the process of airline training; successful completion of which should ensure their release as co-pilots and conversion of foreign license to te Indian one. This procedure will save time without compromising of standards as airline concerned will have to ensure the safety of its own operations.

In the third stage, it should be ensured that the flying training facilities in India are brought to international standards and flying training of required numbers is carried out at approved schools with an approved syllabus to the standard required at the entry level of modern multi-engine jet liners in a time-bound manner.

So to summarize: The stages of growth ought to be-foreign aircraft, foreign pilots-our aircraft, our pilots trained at home. Believe me if we do this well, before long we will start training pilots here.

This will ensure that the air travel requirements of a vibrant and expanding economy are not hampered by capacity restraints of the stagnant past.

Other challenges affecting the industry will be inadequacy of infrastructure to support the expanding air traffic. The facilities and infrastructure at existing international airports are already bursting at the seems.

It will also be necessary to develop airports at more cities, so that increased air traffic can be evenly spread across the country. The government will have to take bold initiatives to improve the ground environment.

With the quantum jump in passenger and cargo traffic, the existing system of manual ticketing, checking and baggage handling will get clogged. Concerted efforts will have to be made to make these functions automatic and IT-based. Thankfully the IATA has already taken four initiatives to simplify the safe airline business. With out IT capabilities it should be possible to operationalize these initiatives with ease.

The increased flow of traffic will require better management of air routes nd creation of modern navigation facilities including radar coverage and approach/landing aids. Traditionally, this has been an area of neglect and a concerted effort will have to be made to improve the facilities to ensure an orderly, safe and efficient flow of air traffic.

Pilots, engineers, flight dispatchers and air traffic controllers are licensed by regulatory authorities which would have to grant licenses in ever-increasing numbers to meet the demand. To ensure proper and rapid licensing the function of the regulator will have to become more efficient, transparent and businesslike. Indian pilots and technical personnel are considered to be second to none in terms of competence; I am sure that the regulatory authorities will rise to the occasion.

A major challenge on absorbing this growth of aviation will be to ensure that it takes place without increasing mishaps. Safety standards, investigations and corrective actions will have to be prompt and flawless. Presently, regulatory as well as air safety supervisory functions are performed by the same agency, which has obvious disadvantages. This is the ideal time to separate the two functions and create an independent safety board.

From the foregoing, it is obvious that Indian aviation is poised to grow very rapidly. With a vibrant economy, adaptable human resources and adequate foreign exchange reserves, capital/manpower are unlikely to be a constraint. However, it will be necessary to pay due attention to carry out flawless training, improve the operating, business, regulatory and supervisory environment to face the challenges profitably and above all safely.