Did you know that it can cost more than Rs 10mn to become a commercially licensed pilot in India? For several years now, Antara Baruah has been doing a brilliant job for The Print’s readers by bringing us fact-based, in-depth stories which capture the bittersweet flavours of India’s uneven economic development. This long read on the pilot training industry is no different. Ms Baruah begins by highlighting the central irony that characterises this niche industry (an irony that is symptomatic of India’s broader development narrative) – booming demand alongside a lack of jobs: “India’s aviation sector is soaring, but steep training costs, outdated infrastructure, and the long haul from a commercial licence to the cockpit are keeping pilots grounded.”
First off, Ms Baruah explains why it is expensive and so difficult to become a pilot in India. We would recommend that you read her article in full not least so that you can enjoy the lovely infographic in which Ms Baruah summarises the financially backbreaking journey to become a commercially licensed pilot. Ms Baruah writes:
“Fleets and runways may be expanding, but becoming a pilot is a costly, bottlenecked process.
Families take on hefty loans, sell ancestral land, and deplete savings to fund training, yet many pilots remain jobless. Some who reach the captain’s seat enjoy cushy salaries and perks, but getting there isn’t always smooth.
India has 38 flying training organisations (FTOs) approved by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). These provide infrastructure and instructors to guide trainees. Students begin with ground classes, where they learn the theoretical aspects of flying. Then, they sit for examinations held by the DGCA. After this, they take about 12 months to complete 200 hours of flying—the minimum requirement for securing a Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL). The whole process costs around Rs 50 lakh.
Beyond that, pilots must obtain a type rating to fly specific aircraft—an additional Rs 15–20 lakh. Some bypass FTOs altogether, opting for airline-sponsored cadet programmes like those from IndiGo and SpiceJet, which cost closer to Rs 1 crore.”
So astronomically high are these costs, that it is usually cheaper for Indians to go abroad for pilot training: “Given these hurdles, many Indian pilots now train abroad, with the Middle East, New Zealand, Australia, and the US emerging as hotspots. An aviation safety consultant told ThePrint that 60 per cent of Indian pilots now train overseas—not just for better infrastructure but because foreign training is often cheaper and faster.
“Training abroad is so much more sophisticated. The quality of planes is much better, and so are the instructors,” said a junior first officer with Indigo, who studied in Australia and Abu Dhabi.”
Then comes the next challenge. After our pilots have spent a bomb on their training, they struggle to get jobs in India even though the aviation sector is supposedly booming in India (“Air passenger traffic doubled in a decade, from 110 million to 220 million, and is projected to hit 400 million by 2029. Civil Aviation Minister K. Rammohan Naidu says India will need 4,000 more planes over the next two decades and plans to build 200 new airports.”)
So why do our pilots not get jobs if the airlines are doing so well? The answers it apply lie in an oversupply of aspirants and in the airlines’ supply-side issues in getting more planes up into the sky. Ms Baruah writes: “In 2023, DGCA chief Arun Kumar said that one out of three Indian pilots were unemployed due to oversupply. While 13,000 pilots were employed with domestic and international carriers, another 5,000–6,000 trained pilots were still on the market.
Even as the DGCA official quoted earlier insisted that India’s flying training industry has grown “leaps and bounds” over the past 15 years and that the aviation sector “absorbed all shocks” from COVID, he admitted that pilot vacancies haven’t kept pace with demand.
“The vacancy rate has slowed down. Airlines are announcing about 20-30 vacancies per year [which is lower than before Covid]… in a money intensive industry like this, survival is difficult,” he said.
The Covid-19 pandemic also delayed training for thousands, doubling the time needed to complete flying hours. While FTOs charge per hour flown rather than duration, the income loss hit hard. One new pilot said it took him four years to get his CPL due to Covid. Even now, landing a job takes time.
Sourabh Chaudhury, a pilot who got his CPL in 2023, called aviation “the new engineering” due to the sheer number of aspirants—many of whom “lack real passion”.
“It’s not so much about getting a job, but the delays,” said Chaudhury, who is waiting to hear from Air India Express after testing with them last month. “They announced vacancies last year but haven’t filled them due to aircraft delivery delays. There’s a backlog. It’s a backend issue.””
The result: India’s airlines are bringing in foreign captains to man their airships whilst our young pilots look for employment opportunities abroad: “Every so often, reports warn of an impending pilot crisis in India. The most cited figure comes from aviation research agency CAPA, which estimates the country will need 10,900 additional pilots by 2030 to keep up with fleet expansion. Yet, thousands of CPL holders are still unemployed.
In 2024, the DGCA issued 1,322 commercial pilot licences—17 per cent fewer than the previous year. This followed a peak in 2023, when 1,622 pilots were licenced, nearly 40 per cent more than in 2022.
According to the DGCA official, concerns over reduced licensing are overblown, and pilots are being inducted at a reasonable clip….
pilots from leading airlines say the reality isn’t so rosy. They complain that vacant captain positions are increasingly being filled by foreign hires—who get better salaries and perks. While demand exists, it’s mostly for experienced captains. The aviation boom is recent, and India has licensed pilots waiting in the wings—not captains.
“You cannot have a readymade pilot. It takes 4-5 years. And to fill that gap, they’re hiring expat pilots. They cite shortages and hire people who are paid more than double. They get first-class tickets to go home. Meanwhile, no such provision exists for us,” said a pilot, who has been with the same airline for nearly nine years, speaking on condition of anonymity.
For many young pilots, the long-term goal is to leave. Several told ThePrint they harbour aspirations of working in the Middle East with airlines like Emirates and Etihad.
“It’s a personal choice. But it’s enticing. The pay is brilliant in Gulf countries. If one gets the opportunity, they’d definitely take it,” said the junior first officer.
Gayatri, despite barely having started, already knows where she wants to go.
“It’s either Emirates or Etihad. My father travels on Etihad, so there’s a special attachment,” she said. “He’s told me—‘I want to see you as an Etihad captain.’””
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