TOI reports: Nightmarish times are back for Indian pilots fresher jobs out of flying schools. As many as 600 Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL)-holders are currently jobless and engaged in a nerve-wracking competition to enter that coveted cockpit even as vacancies for the post of trainee pilots have become as rare as on-time flight departures.
On Monday morning, 400 pilots appeared for Kingfisher Airlines’s written tests conducted in a college in Kandivli (E).
A couple of years ago, when aviation was seen taking off, there was a lot of talk about the shortage of pilots. Two years later, it seems there are too many.
The moral of the story is you can’t pick a career based on ‘demand’ for it!
well, commercial pilots do not have the luxury to choose airlines (companies) like others have from their respective fields nor any flying academy provides on-campus placement unless you are willing to invest 70–80 lakhs in the Cadet program offered by Indigo and jet airways.
So, frankly yes we have to struggle to get placed in an airline. it’s not easy to get a job but it’s not impossible all it takes few months of hard work and little luck from your side.
The first thing you need to understand is that this job is not any ordinary job in the market. you need to be highly passionate, and responsible, and the, etc list is long. please understand the issue.
If I am the owner of an airline or even a single aircraft for my own private use, I would like to ensure that I don’t hand over the aircraft to any random pilot who just has a license.
I would definitely like to hire the best available pilot to fly that plane. So, your reputation, experience, personality, confidence, knowledge, etc., definitely counts apart from just having a valid license, and trust me it is very easy to get a commercial pilot license I mean anybody can have this license by his/her side all it takes to clear 4–5 papers and fly 200 hrs.
That’s all congrats you can call yourself a pilot now.
My instructor once scolds me during my training days after a hard landing by saying “I can make a monkey fly but not u “. lol, jokes apart.
What I mean is getting a CPL is very easy and it’s 250 times tough to get a job in an airline. you need to be the perfect one.
Company Grills you from up n down to know about your personality, knowledge, and skills.
- Technical Paper
- Psychometric /personality test. (trust me u can’t fake what you are not..they will catch you )
- Skill test
- Group take
- Personal interview
So, I agree it’s not very easy but not impossible if you are dedicated and deserving.
and yeah. you need to be patient. it takes lots of time and patience.
opportunity will come just make sure you are ready for it.
Sometimes people think there is lots of competition in this field so I have a perfect example for you on Jan 2017 indigo conducted a written exam for CPL holders for their fleet A320. 1300 people appeared for 150–200 jobs.
What’s the ratio?
let’s now calculate engineering how many ppl appear for IIT?
3 -4 lakhs for how many seats?
I hope u understand now.
Now let me give u a brief about the vacancies from the last two years or so
- December 2015 AirIndia for 50 seats or so
- Spice jet 2016 Feb… 40 seats or so
- Jet Airways March 2016 200-250 pilots
- Spice jet 2016 Oct 35-40 seats
- Alliance Air 2016 has 70 seats or so
- Air India Express 150 people
- Indigo 2017 200-250
- Vistara 2017 20 seats
- Air Asia has 20 seats
these are just for just Cpl rated are much more.
