What it takes to soar to the skies

Glamorous is perhaps the first adjective that comes to mind when one talks of a pilot’s job. For some, there is also an element of envy that a pilot does a job that seems like fun and involves seeing different parts of the world.

According to Captain Amitabh Singh, Executive Director, Training, currently heading Air India’s Central Training Establishments in Hyderabad and Mumbai, a pilot’s job is not the normal run-of-the-mill 9-to-5 kind and an inborn desire to become an aviator will help anyone who wants to fly.

Singh, who has over 29 years of flying experience, adds, “You look at it as a fun and adventure activity apart from being a very responsible activity.”

Some Math and Physics too

Becoming a pilot in India involves a long and taxing process. You need to pass Class 12 with Mathematics and Physics as your subjects. “This is not an industry requirement, this is a requirement of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation for becoming a pilot,” Singh points out.

As important is the medical component. For a student or private pilot, a Class II medical suffices. To be a commercial pilot licence holder, an aspirant needs to pass a Class I medical. A Class II medical is done by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)-approved civil doctors while a Class I medical is done by DGCA-approved Air Force Medical establishments. DGCA has now given certain medical specialists the right to do renewal medicals for pilots though they cannot do the initial medicals.

Once you have done a Class II medical you can apply at any flying club or join the Indira Gandhi Uran Academy, which admits students once a year. Admissions to the Academy are on the basis of an entrance exam. Once you qualify, you go through a two-year course. A course with flying clubs normally lasts eight months to a year. During this time, you have to appear for a PPL (Private Pilot Licence) and you need approximately 50-60 hours of flying to get a private pilot’s licence and 200 hours (including the 50-60 hours of flying for a private pilot’s licence) to get a commercial pilot’s licence.

While you are doing your pilot licence course, you also need to do dual flying, which is with an instructor who teaches you how to handle the aircraft and then allows you to fly solo. This dual instructional flying takes an additional 10 hours on average before you can do solo flying. Besides, there are various examinations that you have to pass.

After getting your private pilot’s licence, you keep flying before you qualify for a commercial pilot’s licence. Here again, you also have to pass various examinations.

Getting a commercial pilot’s licence, however, is just the first step as you also need a twin engine rating as, normally, trainer aircraft have one engine but the jets that you will fly, either as a private pilot or a commercial one, have a minimum of two engines. This rating is important as the aerodynamics change when you move from one to two engines.

What it costs

Getting a commercial pilot’s licence costs between ₹30 lakh and ₹40 lakh. However, with newer aircraft being manufactured and increasingly being used, most airlines want their pilots to get type endorsements on Airbus A-320 or the Boeing 737 type of aircraft, depending on their fleet configurations. Training for this costs in the range of ₹16-23 lakh at an average on Boeing 737, Airbus A-320 and ATR aircraft.

A typical day

A pilot needs to prepare at least 8-to-12 hours before a flight depending on whether it is a day or a night flight. “We start preparing for our flight mentally and physically, abstain from alcohol, regulate our diet and, for a night flight, try and sleep for 3-4 hours during the day,” Singh says. Besides, most pilots also have a ready reckoner that they have to go through before a flight. This covers all emergencies that they could face, like reject take-off, engine fire, returning back to station and wind shear.

“Nowadays all airlines also send you your flight plan package on your computer or email so that sitting at home you can go through details like what is the route, your weather, the meteorological scenario for that day not only at the time of departure, but at the destination and en route,” says Singh.

Every aircraft has a Minimum Equipment List (MEL) which is mandatory for a flight to go from point A to B. However, as a captain, you cannot have an aircraft with everything working 100 per cent. There are some MEL which do not affect a flight as nothing critical is missing. All this information is given to the captain so that he can be ready for the flight. The captain also has to see whether the routing is satisfactory or if he wants a re-routing because of the weather or if he needs more fuel. Typically, the crew reports at the airport a minimum of 30 minutes before departure though for international long-haul flights, the recommended time is 45 minutes. “Various mandated checks and flight preparations are required… you need to prepare the aircraft for the flight. The roles of the captain and the first officer are well-defined pre, during and post flight,” Singh adds. Every airline has a flight despatch office where the flight and cabin crew report before a flight. Here, they also have to undergo a breath analyser test. Once it is cleared, the captain is given all the documents needed to operate the flight.

“As a pilot there is constant brain activity. You start thinking 12 hours before the flight and this thought process continues throughout the flight like, during take-off, I am prepared for a reject and also ready to divert. At the end of the flight there is more mental fatigue. Physical fatigue comes in when you are doing multiple sectors or long-haul flights because of changing time zones,” Singh points out.

Besides, all working pilots need to go through various refresher courses like the ground technical refresher course and the two-sector route check once a year to ensure that their route flying skills remain at the minimum standards. Then there are also regular medical checks to ensure that one’s licence is medically valid.

Earnings, career progression

On average, the joining salary for a pilot ranges from ₹80,000 to ₹1,20,000 and can go up to ₹6 lakh per month. Every additional qualification that a pilot gets while flying adds to his or her earnings.

As far as career progression is concerned, with the aviation sector growing in India and airlines adding to their capacities, pilots are, and will continue to be, much in demand.

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