The Hindu Business Line : AI mulls foreign tie-up for pilot training facility

MR V. THULASIDAS (left), CMD, Air-India. with Mr V. K. Mehari, Director Engineering, Air-India, at a press conference in Mumbai on Monday. - Paul Noronha

Mumbai , April 17

Air India is scouting for foreign partners to set up pilot training facilities in India, as part of its plans to tide over the pilot shortages that the country's national carrier is likely to face in the future.

Mr V. Thulasidas, Air India's Chairman and Managing Director, admitted that its in-house pilot training capacity was inadequate and therefore the company had attached importance to augment the training facilities.

"One of the options we are considering is to tie-up with a partner like Boeing to set up training facilities in the country. Another proposal is to recruit youngsters and send them abroad for training, before appointing them to operate our flights," he told press persons here on Monday.

He said the shortage of pilots was likely to increase after the company starts taking delivery of the 68 aircraft that it had ordered.

The first these new aircraft would join the fleet by November, while the first of the new 777 long-range aircraft would follow in February 2007.

He also admitted that the company would be facing capacity constraints till the mid-2007.

"We are finding it difficult to even get aircraft on lease. We thus have to wait for our new aircraft," he said.

On the financial performance during the last fiscal, Mr Thulasidas said the figures had not been finalised yet, but "we hope to end the year with a small profit." Rise in fuel prices, which had made the previous fiscal difficult for the company, continued to affect its profits in 2005-06.

Asking about fuel hedging option, he said AI was the first airline in the country to start fuel hedging in a small way, having made some spot purchases. "But as this is a new area for us, we will be going ahead cautiously in this regard," he pointed out.

In response to another query, the AI chief said as the new 777 aircraft joined the fleet, the US sector would continue to be its major revenue-earning sector.

Responding to media reports that AI was flouting safety norms, Mr Thulasidas strongly discounted the reports, stating that "I have evidence that a strong lobby was behind this misinformation." He did not want to go into the composition of the lobby, except saying that it was outside AI circles.

On the grounding of a 747 aircraft earlier this month, after it encountered problems with its tyres three times, he admitted that the aircraft suffered with a tyre-burst in Los Angeles, when it was grounded for two months for repair. The same aircraft had suffered problems with its tyres on two more occasions subsequently in India, after which the company had ordered a high-level enquiry committee, having representatives of Boeing and the tyre manufacturer, Goodriche. "Till the committee submits the report, we will keep the aircraft grounded, despite some revenue loss," he said.

He also said AI did not flout any norms of DGCA or other regulatory bodies in respect of pilots operating more than the stipulated man hours. On the issue of AI recruiting foreign pilots, he said the company did appoint expatriates, but on contract basis, to overcome the shortage in pilots.

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