DGCA reprieves on deadline to phase out expat pilots

Domestic air-operators seem to have earned a reprieve with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) understood to have extended the deadline for phasing out expat pilots by one year.

The aviation industry regulator had earlier fixed July 31, 2010, as the deadline for domestic airlines to phase out their foreign pilots.

"The DGCA has given us more time to phase out expat pilots. It has extended the deadline by one year," a top industry official told PTI here.

At present, there are over 600 expat pilots employed by five major Indian scheduled operators – Air India, Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, IndiGo and SpiceJet.

The extension was necessitated for two reasons – an acute shortage of trained Indian commanders as well as capacity addition by the air carriers following a surge in demand in recent months, the official said.

"With the sector recovering from the economic downturn, demand is increasing as a result of which, air carriers are now beginning to add capacity," the official
added.