With Civil Aviation Ministry’s prestigious Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) or popularly known as Udan, the Government has given an unprecedented impetus to the aviation sector in the country. The newly-launched scheme has generated steep demand of Pilots and Aircraft Maintenance Engineers (AMEs) as well as private ancillary firms which have started their expansion plans to tap the demand and supply gap in the world’s fastest-growing aviation market.
“The Udan scheme has certainly opened the doors of vast opportunities in the aviation sector and all the connecting sectors are going to see a major boost. Not only new airlines and Aircraft demand would surge, but the demand for the trained pilots and AMEs are going to get high in the coming days,” said Deputy Chief Flight Instructor at Academy of Carver Aviation Capt Nikhil Jadhav.
“And this is why, we are going to expand our wings in Mumbai now by opening a new and state-of-the-art training centre, equipped with ground classes,” he added.
Fulfilling the Prime Minister’s NarendraModi’s vision of regional connectivity, Aviation Ministry has launched Udan scheme by awarding 128 routes to a total of five operators under the scheme wherein fares are capped at Rs2,500 for one-hour flights.
“The Udan network will cover the whole country, giving a major economic boost to hinterland areas.Under the scheme, the Government has capped fares and is offering incentives to attract airlines to fly less traversed routes, besides providing Rs2.05 billion for financial support to boost airline travel between smaller cities,” said Jadhav.
According to the fineprints of the scheme, over 45 unserved and under-served airports would be connected under Udan. The operators are Air India subsidiary Airline Allied Services, SpiceJet, Air Deccan, Air Odisha and Turbo Megha. They would be operating 19-78 seater aircraft. Moreover, 13 airports in Tier II and Tier III cities which did not have many flights in a week ,will see more flights.
However, Jadhav added, “Through our training firm, we have trained almost 1000 pilots and since there is 100 per cent FDI in this sector in addition to launching Udan scheme, the employability in this sector is inevitable to surge.”
Generally, Airline needs 10 pilots per aircraft, most Indian carriers have brought it down to 8. Currently, India has 5,000 trained pilots but according to experts, the requirement will rise to 9,000 in the next two years. As per a study conducted by the Montreal-based International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the Asia-Pacific region will need 2,30,000 pilots by 2030. While this mandates training at least 16,000 people annually, interestingly in India, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issues only around 900 pilot licences each year.