Flying crew shortages are already on the rise as pilots complain of rising levels of fatigue, a less-than-reassuring trend in an industry where the margin for safety is negligible. file | Photo Credit: Reuters
jumbo of air india group order for 470 planes The spotlight has shifted to a major problem plaguing India’s roller-coaster aviation industry – the current pilot shortage that is about to widen.
Amidst all the rejoicing over the former flag carrier’s historic order, the big question on everyone’s mind within the airline and the larger industry is, “Where will the 7,000-8,000 pilots needed to fly these planes come from?”, especially at a time when India’s airlines have been plagued by delays and cancellations and have even been forced to find parking space for their planes due to lack of cockpit crew to fly them. And flight crew shortages are already taking their toll with pilots complaining of rising levels of fatigue, a less-than-reassuring trend in an industry where the margin for safety is negligible.
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For the 470 aircraft alone, Air India and its partner airlines will need “7,000 to 8,000 pilots over the next decade or about 700-800 pilots a year,” says an industry official closely involved in the process. “It is a big challenge. When we do not have enough pilots to manage the current scale of operations, where will the new pilots come from,” the official spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The order includes 70 wide-body or twin-aisle jets: 40 Airbus 350s, 20 Boeing 787s and 10 Boeing 777-9s, and 400 narrow-body aircraft: 210 Airbus 320/321Neos and 190 Boeing 737 Max, with the planes arrive “into the next decade,” according to a social media post by India’s chief commercial and transformation officer Nipun Agarwal.
31 aircraft are due to arrive in the second half of 2023, with a substantial portion of the remainder to arrive from 2025.
Air India recently faced cancellation and delay of its highly profitable flights to the US and Canada due to crew shortage.
Hemant DP, CEO, Asia Pacific Flight Training Academy, says, “When an airline is forced to cancel 30 flights per day due to pilot shortage, it stands to lose ₹3 crore per day, or about ₹1,000 crore.” May have.” Former Chief Commercial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, GMR Airport. “For an airline that operates 1,500 flights every day, 30 flights equates to 2% of its total flights and the same percentage of loss in revenue from operations. But at the same time you are paying support crew to stay at home or hotels, paying engineering staff and your planes are grounded. Shortage of pilots drives up operational costs, resulting in higher airfares and losses to the airline and end users,” he said. In February 2019, IndiGo was forced to cancel a large number of flights due to pilot shortage. Had to happen
While the new planes are expected to replace the airline group’s current fleet strength of around 200 aircraft, the industry official said replacement would happen over time. “The current fleet is going to run together for some time, and is also being refurbished,” he added. Also, there will be many pilots who will retire, he said, describing the situation as “a nightmare”.
Since the order varies over a period of 10 years, delivery of 470 aircraft over this period would mean approximately “3-4 aircraft per month”. Average 12 sets of pilots for long distance flights like US (12 co-pilots and 12 pilots per aircraft) and 8.5 sets of pilots for long distance flights like Europe as well as average 7 sets for each narrow body cockpit The crew, totaling about 7,000 gives pilots and co-pilots, back of the envelope calculations.
Adding to the challenge is the fact that Air India has placed an order for A350s, a new type of aircraft in its fleet, and will require a new batch of crew as pilot training is different for each type of aircraft. is specific for Many involved with flight operations at some of the country’s major airlines say it will prove to be an operational challenge as crew cannot be moved from the Boeing 777 or 787-9 fleet if there is a delay due to bad weather.
According to the DGCA data for 2021-2022, there are a total of 8,573 pilots for about 700 aircraft in the country. Besides Air India, IndiGo will receive around 500 aircraft ordered with Airbus, and 17-plane strong recent entrant Air Akasa plans to reach a target of 72 by March 2027, with more aircraft Order will also be received.
The shortage of pilots also has an impact on pilot fatigue, an issue often raised by them, as well as the safety of passengers.
Training also requires massive infrastructure like simulators, trainers etc. Air India has five simulators – 3 for wide-body jets in Mumbai and 2 for the A320 in Hyderabad.
Pilot shortage is a challenge for the airline industry, which needs an immediate solution with policy support from the government, say officials.