Market Intelligence: Indian Subcontinent

Indian Civil Aviation Regulator Enforces Action on Flight Training Industry Following Numerous Crashes

The following Press Note was shared by the Indian Civil Aviation Regulator – DGCA (Director General, Civil Aviation).

Director General, Civil Aviation ordered Special Safety Audits for all Flying Training Organisations (FTOs) in India to assess safety standards and systemic deficiencies in operations, maintenance and training.

The audit commenced from 21.03.2022. At the time of audit, there were 32 functional FTOs. Till date, audit of 30 FTOs have been completed. The audits brought out following salient safety deficiencies;

  1. Non Compliance of DGCA requirements for conduct of Breath-Analyzer (BA) examination i.e. few instructors, student pilots and aircraft maintenance engineers did not undergo BA test or submit undertaking prior to commencement of duty/exercise of privileges. In few cases the equipment being used were not in compliance with the requirements or calibrated as required.
  2. False logging was observed i.e. in a few cases dual flight has been logged as solo flight and few other cases the taxi time was calculated towards the instrument flying time of the student pilot.
  3. Operation of aircraft with faulty or unserviceable aircraft instruments such as fuel gauges, stall warning etc.
  4. Deficiencies in the ground training of student pilot i.e. overlap of flying training and ground training, lack of arrangement for ground training, not having the required instructors.
  5. Deficiencies in flying training procedures and their implementation i.e. student pilots not appropriately briefed and trained on emergencies/essential exercises before being released for solo flights/cross country, adhocism in allocation of trainers as trainers are frequently changed and thereby affecting the learning experience of student pilot.
  6. The facilities at the airfield/training organization are not being maintained as per the requirements i.e. runway surface was found worn out, wind sock was found torn or nonstandard.
  7. Emergency response plan was not practiced and contained obsolete contact details. The emergency response plan is of great importance when an accident/incident occurs.

Based on these audit findings and the findings in recent accident, enforcement action has been issued i.e.

  • Warning Letter to two Accountable Managers
  • Suspension orders to two Chief Flight Instructors for a year
  • Suspension orders to two Chief Flight Instructors for 3 months
  • Suspension order to one Deputy Chief Flight Instructor for a year
  • Suspension orders to two Deputy Flight Instructors for 3 months
  • Suspension order to one Assistant Flight Instructor for 3 months
  • Suspension order for one student for 3 months
  • Approval of one FTO has been suspended

Enforcement actions against other individuals/FTOs are at various stages.

Source – Indian DGCA

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Indian Airline Reinstates Pilot Salaries and Flying Allowance Due to Quick Recovery

Vistara announced that, in addition to the reinstatement of the pilot bonus in April this year, it will also reinstate base flying allowance as the airline industry and air travel recovers aggressively in India.

“Further to reinstating the monthly bonus for all pilots from April 2022, subject to the average global active hours for the preceding month being at least 70, I am very pleased to announce that the base flying allowance (BFA) reduction is also reinstated. In March, I wrote to you about the recovery of the industry that we were observing and the hope that it would be sustained. It appears that this has been the case. While we are cognizant of certain challenges that are still being faced by the industry in general, the situation is a lot more positive than it was at this time last year,” said Captain Hamish Maxwell, Senior Vice President-Flight Operations, Vistara.

For more information, kindly contact the Vistara.

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Indian Aviation Minister Says India’s Drone Pilot Training Fee Will Decrease

India’s Drone Pilot Training fees are set to decrease in 3-4 months as more drone schools have been approved by the regulator, said Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. For the past five months, India DGCA has certified 23 drone schools.

“You said the fees of a drone pilot course is currently quite high. You should not worry at all. As the number of schools keep increasing, the cost of training drone pilots will keep decreasing,” said Scindia.

“So, now, the DGCA will only certify drone schools, and it is the drone school concerned which will grant certificates to pilots. We have completely removed bureaucracy from this process,” the Minister emphasized.

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Indian Aviation Training Organisation and Embry Riddle Aeronautical University Join Hands to Offer Bachelor’s Degree Programs in Aviation Management

Trans Aviacons, Hyderabad’s leaders in Aviation Training programs since 2007, collaborates with Singapore based Embry Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU-Asia), one of the world’s top 10 Universities to offer two bachelor’s degree programs in Aviation Management.

Disclosing this addressing a press conference in Hyderabad, Mr V Satya Bhushana Rao, Head of the Institution—Aviacons said they are introducing Bachelor of Science – Aeronautics (BSA) and Bachelor of Science – Aviation Business Administration (BSABA) – two graduate programs along with 7 other professional Certificate Programs from July 2022.

The courses are offered in asynchronous mode(online) and these full-time programs can be completed in three years. Though there is no restriction on numbers of students, the intake will be restricted to 20 each for the course. There will be two intakes, one in July and the other one will be in January. The fee and course modules are flexible.

The Bachelor of Science in Aeronautics (BSA) degree is designed specifically for students who desire to work in aviation-related careers. The program provides aviation-specific knowledge through aviation-related coursework. The program is accredited by the Aviation Accreditation Board International (AABI).

The Aviation Accreditation Board International (AABI) was created at the initiative of 100 colleges and universities with aviation programs that recognized the need to establish standards and submit themselves to the review of their peers and the industry.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Bachelor of Science in Aviation Business Administration is designed for students to excel in this high-powered, fast-paced industry.

The program explores all facets of business administration and management, including Economics, Management of Aeronautical Science, Business Statistics & Accounting, Business Marketing & Management, Human Resources and Finance.

Though there are 400 to 500 ground training schools in India, Aviacons is unique as it is recognized by Serbian civil aviation authority. Aviacons has another unique distinction of being the only Indian institute for getting recognition for Aviation English Language Proficiency Testing by UKCAA (UK Civial Aviation Authority) as well as EASA(European Aviation Safety Authority), which is regarded as the best aviation authority across the world.

Aviacons is also planning to set up a flight school in Nanded Airport, which is likely to commence anywhere between October to December this year. Subsequently, it will be scaled up into Integrated Training Hub, a one-stop-shop for Aviation related trainings in next three to 5 years.

Currently, it has three training aircrafts. It has placed expression of interest with NAL(National Aerospace Laboratory) to purchase three Hansa NG Training Aircraft. These are indigenous-built aircrafts for training purpose. The procurement and operating cost of this aircraft will be significantly low, thereby, reducing cost of flight training. Aviacons was one of the first few to place letter of expression of interest.

Speaking further Mr. Satya Bhushan Rao gave an overview of the potential of Hyderabad as an aviation hub. The city can boast of two military airports, two commercial airports, one training airfield with a total of 7 runways. It has a MRO, and has a cluster of aerospace companies.

The current annual demand for pilots is 1500 , but only 1000 pilots are being training There will be a huge demand of 8000 to 10,000 pilots in next 5 to 7 years. India can boast of about 39 pilots training institutions. All these put together have about 250 training aircrafts. Based on the aircrafts capacity we can train 2500 pilots per annum, but the industry is able to produce only 1000 to 1200 pilots.

India is currently ranked the ninth-largest civil aviation market in the world, and it is set to become largest global market by 2030. It is currently considered the fastest growing industry with a plethora of employment opportunities in the next 10 years.

Currently the country has 113 airports with 900 aircrafts flying. Currently 10,000 pilots are operating these aircraft.

The future of the industry is very promising. The number of airports are likely to go upto 250 in next 10 years. The regional connectivity to increase to 948 routes under the UDAAN program. The number of aircrafts are expected to go upto 1500 and that will need 18000 pilots to operate. And it will employ nearly 5 lakh professional.

The growth and development of aviation industry is highly dependent on availability of skilled professionals and the training industry is bracing up to meet the surge in demand. The Graduate Programs and certificate courses are career-oriented, in line with the best industry norms and standards from across the globe, and at the same time cost-effective and will help to bridge the demand-supply gap of qualified and skilled aviation professionals.

Though aviation has always been a field of fancy and curiosity to many youngsters, due to lack of awareness and proper guidance, and the cost involved in quality education, it is not fully explored by many. The aviation management programs being offered by Aviacons in collaboration with one of the world’s best universities, is an effort to make world class education available to Indian students at the most affordable price, so that this becomes a preferred career option for youngsters in India – says V, Satya Bhushana Rao. He further added that currently, we do not have any universities offering exclusive aviation studies and there is an urgent need to offer such specialized aviation management courses to meet the industry expectations.

Adds Mrs Teena Marina Oommen, Director of Aviacons, that Aviacons has trained over 1000 students in the past decade. Many of its alumni are flying various Airlines now. Embry Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU – Asia Campus) is nearly 100 years old and is one of the top 10 Universities in the world and ranked No. 3 in Asia offering exclusive aviation study programs. The ERAU degree courses are recognized and valued across the globe and more than 92% of ERAU students get placed within 6 months of completion of their course. It has produced more than 140,000 alumni who keep the aerospace and related industries running safely and productively.

The two academic programs in aviation management shall be jointly offered by Aviacons and Embry Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU – Asia). These courses help to bridge the gap between industry requirements and skilled professionals. These courses are specifically designed keeping in mind, the evolving industry developments, global best practices, and emerging technological trends in aviation learning – informed Mr Kirit Manek, Director of Finance & Business Operations.

Source – Aviacons Press Release

For more information, kindly contact Aviacons.

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Leading Indian Pilot Training Organization Announces Partnership with University

Indian Simulator Training Center Group FSTC launched its own Flight School in 2022 and has now announced that its Flight School has signed a joint MOU with Indian UPES University for two courses;

  • MBA In Aviation Management
  • BBA In Aviation Operations

About FSTC Flying School
“FSTC – Flying School is our latest venture which has been started under the flagship pilot training brand ‘FSTC’, initiated with a vision of providing a comprehensive pilot training services to the budding Flyers. In this regard, we have already secured the DGCA approval and have activated the Flight Training at the Bhiwani Airport. It is envisioned to be the largest Flight Training School in the region which will boast of state-of the art infrastructure such as brand-new Trainer Aircraft, Unrestricted Airspace ensuring Continuous Flying, Proximity to DEL/NCR region, Quality Flying Instructors and International Training Curriculum.”

For more information, kindly contact FSTC Flying School.

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