While Indigo has said it will have adequate flight crew to comply with duty norms from Feb 10, pilot recruitment is unable to keep pace with the speed at which airlines are expanding operations. Demand-supply mismatch & deteriorating working conditions have led to a massive pilot shortage, explains Yaruqhullah Khan
Why is there a pilot shortage?
Currently, India has around 11,000 pilots, but will need 35,000-40,000 pilots over the next ten years. The pilot shortage stems from rapid fleet expansion outpacing training capacity, stringent regulatory constraints on working hours, and a labour market in which newly qualified pilots struggle to secure employment while senior captains remain scarce.
Staffing practices make the gap worse: carriers resist hiring and training sufficient junior pilots to secure an adequate pipeline of future captains.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued 1,622 commercial pilot licences (CPL) in 2023 but only 1,342 in 2024, a 17% decline. This number, while substantial, barely meets the projected demand of over 1,000 pilots per year for the next five years.
Recognising the crisis, Air India and Airbus, in September 2025, opened a pilot training centre to train around 5,000 new pilots over the next decade. Indigo has tie-ups with flying schools, and claims to have inducted over 1,000 pilots through eight such partnerships in the last 13 years.
Meanwhile, of the pilots graduating from India’s 38 flight training academies (FTAs/FTOs), only 70% secure employment upon completing their CPL course.
Is this a temporary problem?
The fundamental mismatch between training infrastructure and market demand will persist for at least the next five to seven years. CAPA Consulting projects demand for 22,400 pilots by fiscal year 2030, yet varied training scenarios suggest India will produce fewer than 8,000 to 10,000 additional pilots during that same period.
It takes 18 months to two years to complete commercial pilot training in India—nearly double the timeframe in the US or Europe. The biggest bottleneck is the shortage of flight instructors.
Candidates seeking to become instructors must pass an examination and complete check flights with DGCA examiners, a process that spans 8 to 10 months in India versus roughly four months in the US or Europe. Training aircraft induction can require up to six months due to multiple approvals.
How the govt can help solve this
The expansion of training infrastructure remains slow relative to airline growth expectations. The biggest demand thus is the streamlining of instructor certification. Reducing the time required for CPL holders to become instructors to 4-5 months would unlock additional training capacity without massive capital investment.
The government has already begun to address this, transferring the radio telephony proficiency examinations from the Department of Telecommunications to the DGCA, which should accelerate certification processes.
The industry has also requested the government to accelerate approvals for training aircraft and prioritise the import of advanced turboprops and aircraft used in pilot training.
Furthermore, it has proposed adding a workforce development component under the UDAN-RCS (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) scheme that directly supports training infrastructure in underserved regions.
Role of the private sector
Airlines and training providers can also reshape recruitment and retention strategies to address India’s pilot shortage. Currently, Indian pilots earn significantly less than their peers in the US, UK, Canada, Dubai, Singapore, and other West Asian countries, forcing them to look overseas for better pay.
By increasing base compensation, airlines can reduce the exodus. Airlines can also invest in nurturing junior pilots through structured mentorship and guaranteed promotion pathways, building a robust pipeline of future captains, rather than competing for a limited pool of experienced captains.
FTOs can also help improve graduation-to-employment pathways. Given that only 50-70% of graduates secure jobs immediately, training providers can coordinate with airlines on curriculum alignment, ensuring graduates possess the specific skills—crew resource management, simulator proficiency, clear DGCA records—that carriers demand.
Improved working conditions of pilots
Improving working conditions directly addresses multiple dimensions of the shortage. First, it reduces the number of pilots classified as medically unfit. By lowering fatigue levels, fewer pilots require temporary or permanent medical disqualification, increasing the active pilot pool without hiring more people.
Second, it improves retention of experienced pilots, preserving seniority and command capability instead of losing institutional knowledge to burnout. Third, it makes the profession more attractive to new entrants, improving training school enrolments and graduation-to-employment conversion rates.
The current issue in aviation is not only about supply of pilots but rather about keeping them safe and preventing fatigue. Pilot fatigue has been linked to several serious aviation accidents in India. This is also why the stricter flight duty time limitations are being enforced.