India mulls ranking flying schools on parameters like average time for CPL completion

NEW DELHI: India may soon rank

flying training organisations

(FTOs) here on various parameters like the average time taken by students there to get a

commercial pilot licence

(CPL) -- which requires flying training aircraft for 200 hours and clearing several subject exams that are conducted by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (

DGCA

). As of now, there are no timelines in which this process can be completed and this process often takes upto two years or even more. For this reason, a large number of Indian students go abroad every year to quickly get their CPL at a higher cost.
DGCA chief Faiz Ahmed Kidwai is learnt to be planning to ensure “competition, transparency and fairness” among FTOs through the proposed ranking system. “Our primary objective is to ensure safety for which spot checks are frequently carried out on and quality of training. But it is time to also look at the issue of ease of becoming a pilot while ensuring the first two things.
"Enough is enough. We want a portal for Indian flying schools that gives all their details like their fleet size for single & multi-engine planes; record of incidents & accidents; number of trainers & students and average time taken by their students to complete CPL. Based on these things, different schools will be ranked and then students can make an informed choice on which FTO should opt for," said multiple officials who attended a recent meeting where Kidwai spoke of his plan. The regulator is now working to make this a reality.
Most student pilots come from middle-class families who have taken big loans to give wings to their children’s dreams. The high costs of flying schools—Rs 20,000-25,000 per hour for single-engine and Rs 50,000-60,000 for multi-engine—add to their financial strain. Even while waiting for flying slots, families still face monthly hostel fees of Rs 20,000-30,000.

Barring a few exceptions, flying training schools in India have a patchy record in several areas like safety and time taken for CPL completion.
“Even after paying Rs 50-60 lakh, students at most flight schools are forced to beg for their flying to take place. False promises about timelines; trainer shortages, and aircraft unavailability often delay training for months. Many students end up missing airline vacancies, putting their careers at risk despite the huge financial investment,” said several student pilots.
On their part, some FTO operators on condition of anonymity said they are constrained by issues like trainer shortage. “Often trainers are those who are still awaiting an airline job. The moment they get the same, they leave. Then FTOs poach each other’s ‘good’ trainers. These issues also contribute to delays among other factors that are beyond our control. It makes business sense for us to train as many as possible and we don’t delay for fun or sadistic pleasure,” they said.