India's Chimes Aviation Academy Surpasses 200,000 Flying Hours and 1,000 Alumni with All-Glass-Cockpit 33-Aircraft Fleet

India – Chimes Aviation Academy (CAA), a DGCA-approved Flying Training Group established in 2007 and based in Madhya Pradesh with ground school operations in Gurugram, has surpassed 200,000 total flying hours and 1,000 alumni since inception, operating a 33-aircraft all-glass-cockpit fleet.

• CAA operates 33 aircraft across two Madhya Pradesh airfields (Dhana and Neemuch): 30 single-engine trainers (Cessna 172 R/S, Piper Archer DX, and Tecnam P2010 Tdi) and 3 Diamond DA42 twin-engine aircraft, with every aircraft equipped with the Garmin G1000 NXi glass cockpit, ADS-B capability, and FADEC engines — ensuring students train on glass cockpit avionics from day one through CPL completion.
• The CAA-IndiGo Cadet Pilot Program (CPP), operating since 2019, reached its Batch 12 Letter of Intent signing ceremony by May 2026, marking over six years of continuous airline-linked cadet pipeline delivery — described by CAA as India's only entirely homegrown, full-time cadet pilot program for IndiGo.
• The end-to-end IndiGo cadet program runs approximately 20 months: DGCA ground school in Gurugram, flying training at the Madhya Pradesh airfields, and Airbus A320 type rating before joining IndiGo as Junior First Officers.
• CAA reports an average CPL training duration of 11 months and maintains among the lowest incident rates in the Indian FTO sector over 18+ years of operations, with in-house CAR-145 certified maintenance at both airfield locations.
• The two-airfield network in Madhya Pradesh is approximately one cross-country flight apart, creating an embedded training advantage for mandatory CPL cross-country navigation requirements, with the state's year-round flying weather minimising seasonal training disruptions.

Source: Chimes Aviation Academy