India will need 9,488 pilots in next five years: Hardeep Singh Puri

“The total number of pilots employed in the country with scheduled airlines at present is 9,073,” Puri said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.

An estimated 9,488 pilots will be required in India in the next five years, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said Monday.

Aircraft operated by AirAsia Bhd, Vistara, a joint venture between Singapore Airlines and Tata Group, and IndiGo, a unit of InterGlobe Aviation Ltd., stand at Terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. (Bloomberg)

“The total number of pilots employed in the country with scheduled airlines at present is 9,073,” Puri said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.

He said 700-800 commercial pilot licences (CPLs) are issued by the aviation regulator DGCA in a year. Of these, 30 per cent CPLs are given to those who have undergone training in a foreign organisation, Puri added.

The aviation sector has been hit hugely by the coronavirus pandemic.

Therefore, all domestic carriers have instituted various cost-cutting measures like pay cuts, layoffs or leave without pay in the past few months.