Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia chairs meet on Flying Training Organizations

Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya M. Scindia chaired a meeting on Tuesday of the Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Civil Aviation to discuss the issue of "Flying Training Organizations (FTOs)" amid fast-growing Indian aviation industry, informed the Ministry.

"The role of India's FTOs has become critical as the fast-growing Indian aviation industry requires the growing supply of high-quality pilots. India has been one of the fastest-growing aviation markets in the world and it is now leading the recovery of the global aviation industry," said Scindia.

"India's scheduled airlines have a fleet of 710 aircraft which is projected to grow to over 1000 aircraft in the next five years. With a new liberalized helicopter policy announced on October 8, a significant increase in India's helicopter fleet is expected over the next five years," he added.

"Informing about the current status, Scindia said that there are 34 DGCA approved FTOs in the country. Out of which, one (IGRUA at Amethi, UP) is under the administrative control of the Central Government, eight are under the State Governments and 25 are owned by the private sectors. Given the fleet projection, India may require around 9000 pilots over the next five years implying the requirement of almost 1800 pilots per annum," reads the official statement.

The official release further added that India had issued 756 commercial pilot licenses this year by November 23, which is an all-time high. Scindia, however, expressed concern that over 40 per cent of these licenses have been issued to cadets who have undergone their flying training in a foreign FTO. He said that there is a need to expand the capacity of Indian FTOs with a view to reducing the dependence on foreign FTOs.

"A liberalized FTO policy has been announced by Airports Authority of India (AAI) wherein the concept of airport royalty was abolished and annual fee was rationalized significantly for new FTOs to be set up at AAI airports. AAI has issued award letters for nine flying schools to be established at five airports in early to mid-2022," Scindia said.

"The Minister stated that various regulatory reforms have been taken to enhance the growth of flying hours, productivity, quality standards and long term sustainability of FTOs. He said that with a close collaboration between the Government, regulatory authorities, FTOs, aerospace companies and the airline industry, India has the potential to become a global flying training hub by 2030" adds the release.

As per the official statement, Aviation Minister informed in the meeting that as of November 21 nearly 3.93 lakh domestic passengers took to the skies, which is nearly 98.7 per cent of the pre-Covid average. On November 20, cargo uplifted by domestic airlines was 3810 MT which is nearly 103 pre cent of the pre-Covid average cargo uplift. He said that the revival of the Indian aviation market appears to be robust and reversible.

( With inputs from ANI )