DGCA circular likely to affect pilot training put on hold

Mumbai: A Directorate General of Civil Aviation circular which would have severely crippled the expansion plans of airlines that send their pilots abroad for training was kept in abeyance at the eleventh hour after the affected carriers complained to the director-general about conflict of interest in its issuance. The controversial circular which was to come into force from Saturday was temporarily held back by the DGCA on Friday evening. By then though certain airlines had cancelled the training slots they had booked for their pilots in the simulator training centres abroad for the months of May, June. With no new slots available for the next 7-8 weeks, the training schedules of atleast 70 pilots from six carriers have been hit. The matter pertains to a circular issued on February 1 by the DGCA chief flight operations inspector (CFOI), which makes it mandatory from April 30 for overseas pilot training facilities to be inspected and certified by Indian aviation regulator if the training they impart has to be recognised in India. Currently, these training facilities, where Indian carriers send their pilots, being located in International Civil Aviation Organisation member countries like the UK, US, UAE, Singapore etc are inspected by the regulators of the countries concerned and the DGCA recognises their certification. In India, only two carriers, Jet Airways and Air India are what’s called, ``Type Rated Training Organisation’’, that is, these airlines have their own inhouse training facilities with aircraft simulators etc to impart pilot trainings like type-training that qualifies a pilot to be a co-pilot or commander and fly a particular aircraft type (like the A320, B737 etc). All the others like IndiGo, Spice Jet, Vistara, Air Asia, Go Air, Blue Dart, Air Costa, TruJet, Quick Jet Cargo send their pilots abroad to train. The stringent conditions laid down in the circular and slow place at which the Indian regular functions then would have hit these carriers pilot training program and consequently their expansion plans. Among the contentious points in the circular is one which states that simulators based abroad should be inspected and certified by a DGCA FOI. Airline sources said that since February, after the circular was introduced, they have been asking the DGCA to certify the simulators based abroad so that they can continue to train their pilots there. But only a couple of simulator were certified till April end. ``At this pace, the pilot training program of all these airlines will slow down greatly. As more and more aircraft join their fleet, these airlines need a steady supply of newly trained pilots each month. Over 70 airline pilots are sent each month by these carriers abroad to train,’’ said an aviation source. ``Had this circular not been temporarily revoked, these carriers would have suffered huge losses as their aircraft would be on ground because of shortage of trained pilots,’’ said an airline official, requesting anonymity. Another airline official said that the circular should only have been aimed at pilots who are not employed with airlines. `They sponsor their own type-training to get an airline job. They might go to a cheap training facility in a country with a poor track record,’’ the official said. The larger issue here is that of the allegation of conflict of interest that officials of the affected carriers levied in the protest letters sent to the regulator. The DGCA official who issued the circular was with a private carrier till 2014, after which he joined the DGCA on contract, as chief flight operations inspector. ``As is the case with all DGCA flight operations inspectors (FOI) who have come from airlines, once the government contract expires, he too will go back to the airline. Not only that, currently too, he like the other flight inspectors flies occasionally with his airline so as to keep his licence current,’’ said an airline official. ``Now, his airline trains its pilots in India and so they won’t be affected by the circular. So there is a solid ground to suspect that the circular was aimed at hitting his airline’s rivals,’’ the official added. The director-general was not available for comment. The case then has exposed the vulnerability of the DGCA, whose top brass consists of government officials without indepth knowledge of aircraft and flying. The regulator then is forced to heavily rely on airlines to provide it with pilots with technical knowledge who are hired on temporary contracts as FOIs. Another contentious point in the circular was of split training as the circular made it mandatory for ground training and tests to be carried out in India, though the simulator training is being done abroad. ``Simulator training and ground training go hand-in-hand and when its split it causes inordinate delay,’’ said an airline pilot. Then again, the DGCA exams are conducted only once in three months. Fast-growing airlines like IndiGo train about 40 pilots a month. Had the circular been implemented without making changes in the existent system, the Indian airline industry which has a 22 percent growth rate would have suffered.