http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=136192
Airlines seek fewer foreign pilots to trim costs 
 
NEELASRI BARMAN & SAGAR MALVIYA
Posted online: Friday, August 04, 2006 at 0000 hours IST
 
       
 
 
MUMBAI, AUG 3 :  Airlines in India are planning to cut down their expenditure on employing foreign pilots, with several of them chalking out plans to set up their own pilot training schools for locals. Indian carriers spend around Rs 162 crore a year on employing expatriates. At present, there are about 300 foreign pilots working in India.
Airlines, including Air-India, Air Deccan and Kingfisher Airlines, will have pilot training schools in the next two to three years, and will be able to train and hire Indian pilots on a relatively less salary.

An Air-India spokesperson told FE, "We will be hiring 100 pilots every year for the next seven years. Of this, about 10% will be expatriates. However, after two to three years, we will stop hiring expartiates since we are going to set up our pilots training schools as well as hire graduates and train them to be pilots."

Lowcost carriers are also optimistic about cutting down costs by employing Indian pilots.

SpiceJet director Ajay Singh said, "With more and more pilot training schools coming up in India, we will certainly be able to meet pilot requirements from these."

Indian carriers currently spend about Rs 18 crore a year on employing foreign pilots. Air Deccan's director finance Mohan Kumar said, "We have to pay them more since we have to arrange for their accommodation, and give them more perks compared with Indian pilots. We want to cut down on these expenses by having more Indian pilots."

Indian and foreign commanders for an Airbus aircraft each get Rs 4 lakh a month. However, a foreign pilot earned about Rs 50,000 more a month in perks, added Kumar.

But experts feel that the target to phase out foreigners will not be an easy one in the medium-term.

A senior pilot with Air-India said, "It will take about five years to reach that stage when expatriates will no longer be needed. This is because it takes five years to train co-pilots into captains at training schools."