Bipin Shah   Self Employed
Scheduled airlines in India employ a total of 384 expatriate pilots, with Jet Airways accounting for the most at 111, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said here today.

Mr Patel told the Lok Sabha in a written reply to a question that, though there was no shortage of trained pilots in the country, there was a shortage of Type-rated Commanders with airline operators.

To overcome this shortage, airline operators had been permitted to utilise expatriate pilots upto July 31, 2011, subject to validation of their foreign licence by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), he said.

Mr Patel said India, being an International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) signatory State, recognized the licences issued by other ICAO contracting States provided they met the Standard and Recommended Practices (SARPs) contained in ICAO Annexure I regarding Personnel & Licensing. The validation of licences is done as per Rule 45 of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, he said.

He said there were no norms that mandated domestic airlines to have at least one Indian pilot inside an aircraft cockpit.

As on August 2, the number of expatriate pilots employed with various operators are:
Air India/Air India Charters Limited - 89; Kingfisher Airlines - 83; Jet Airways - 111; (Spice Jet - 30; Blue Dart - 05; Deccan Cargo - 07; Indigo - 34; Alliance Air - 24 and Paramount Airways - 1, Mr Patel added.
Aug 13th 2010 00:18