Aircraft Maintenance Engineering (AME) institutes might shut down across the country. This is no fallout of the global meltdown.
NEW DELHI: Aircraft Maintenance Engineering (AME) institutes might shut down across the country. This is no fallout of the global meltdown.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) plans to make it compulsory for institutes to acquire newer aircraft to teach aircraft maintenance engineering courses. But AME is not in a position to buy the aircraft.
A senior civil aviation official said, “The idea is to overhaul the entire system for aircraft maintenance engineering courses taught in institutes.”
At present there are 68 AME schools registered with the DGCA, the apex body for certifying and registering AME schools. Naturally, the move has left AME schools stunned with AME’s licence renewal due in December. And buying new aircraft will bleed them financially. They are trying hard to get rid of the proposed clause that makes it compulsory for them to acquire “newer aircraft”.
A representative of an AME school said on condition of anonymity, “The price of the aircraft according to DGCA’s specification will be around Rs1 crore. That alone will force many AME schools to shut down.” The schools, at present, use parts of older aircraft.
But, school representatives argue that DGCA must not equate AME schools with pilot training schools. “It is normal for flying schools to have a fleet of single engine aircraft. But no AME school can afford to buy a fleet of aircraft for teaching aircraft maintenance engineering course,” said a representative.
But DGCA officials are unfazed. They see nothing wrong in the proposed amendment as it will raise the quality of teaching to global standards. “The schools are teaching students using aircraft parts of older model no longer in use. What is wrong if the DGCA is framing guidelines for the institutes to teach students in aircraft which are still in use,” asked a DGCA official.
k_yogesh@dnaindia.net
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