India's largest low-cost airline, IndiGo, has announced a five-year deal with CAE to provide training to pilot cadets at the CAE Global Academy, Gondia and type-rating training centres.
IndiGo said the 17-month cadet pilot programme was specifically designed to enable aspiring young pilots to receive both their initial commercial pilot licence (CPL) and an Airbus A320 type rating.
The no-frills carrier promoted by InterGlobe Enterprises has a fleet of 39 Airbus A320 aircraft.
"Through the initiative, we wish to contribute to the growth of the commercial aviation sector by creating more job opportunities. This is our effort to address the long term shortage of qualified pilots in India," said Aditya Ghosh, president, IndiGo.
The programme is focussed on training non-pilots in two phases. While the first phase would involve providing the required training to obtain a commercial pilot licence (CPL) with multi engine instrument rating and multi engine experience, the second phase would be the type rating training for qualifying on the Airbus A320 as a co-pilot.
Eligible candidates would be screened by a series of tests for ability, aptitude and psychological profile by CAE. This will be followed by a group discussion and an interview with IndiGo.