At a time when airlines are not adding significant capacities, hundreds of pilots, coming out of training schools could be left stranded. As of now around 4,500 pilots are working with the major seven airlines in the country. The top three carriers Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher employ around 1,000 pilots each. Although passenger traffic is picking up?airlines in India collectively carried 445.13 lakh passengers in 2009, as against 412.71 lakh passengers in 2008, up 8% carriers are reluctant to increase frequencies or destinations just yet. That means the 5,000 pilots churned out of training academies across the country, per year, will have a hard time finding a job. Some of them are trying to fly private non-scheduled operators. The number of foreign pilots flying Indian carriers stands at around 500.
Even though the operating environment has improved, airlines are cautious about increasing frequencies or routes. For instance, SpiceJet?s load factors in December 2009 were far higher at 88% compared to 70%in December 2008, but it doesn?t intend to fly any new routes.
A spokesperson for Jet Airways, which has a passenger market share of 26.5%, says the carrier doesn?t intend to recruit pilots anytime soon. An official from the financially beleaguered Air India, also ruled out recruitment plans in the near future. ?We assess our staff requirements regularly and for specialised resources such as pilots, cabin crew and engineers, we will evaluate the requirement and hire if necessary.?
Jet Airways is not planning any major additions to its fleet and all new purchases or leases will be only to replace ageing aircraft. Kingfisher will add just two aircraft between January and March 2011 an ATR (turboprop plane) and an A320 plane. Air India will also have no major additions to its fleet this year.
Apart from limited capacity additions in the industry, except for 10-12 aircraft due for delivery this year, airlines are also keeping a tight control over their expenditure on employees. For instance, Jet bought down its employee cost by 21% to Rs 290 crore for the December quarter as against Rs 365 crore in the same quarter in the corresponding year.
Even Kingfisher managed to reduce personnel costs by 20% at Rs 170 crore for the December quarter as against Rs 218 crore for the same period a year ago. In Hyderabad alone, there are around 25 schools, turning out 100 pilots a year on average. YN Sharma, COO, at Chimes Aviation Academy said, ?Though airlines are not recruiting at this point of time, the aviation industry should see growth and therefore, there could be some capacity addition.?