Boom in pilot and cabin crew employment even as airlines continue to bleed

This is primarily on account of the higher number of aircraft flying in Indian skies; maintenance crew numbers are down drastically

Air passenger traffic has increased by three fourths since 2014-15, to touch the 120 million mark in 2017-18. Almost all operational parameters of India’s airlines -- from the number of available seats, to departures, to aircraft fleet -- have grown more during this period than they have in the past. The finances of airlines are bleeding due to high aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices. But that hasn’t curbed hiring of more people, especially in certain job categories. While pilot and cabin crew strength has risen across the board, maintenance crew haven’t been as lucky.

According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the number of people employed in India’s various airlines increased by just about 3,200 on average, between 2013-14 and 2016-17. The number of people employed in maintenance and repair jobs halved to about 5,800 during this period. This reduction in maintenance staff strength was compensated by an increase in the number of pilots and cabin crew. In 2016-17, there were almost 7,200 pilots and co-pilots on the payrolls of India’s scheduled airlines. Pilots now outnumber maintenance staff or ticketing and sales staff employed by India’s airlines. There are almost two cabin crew for every pilot employed by airlines. In 2016-17, the number off cabin crew employed by airlines was more than the combined employee strength of maintenance and ticketing staff. There were almost 13,000 cabin crew in Indian skies. In 2013-14, there was more maintenance staff than cabin crew. Now there are less than half of them left.

The growth in the demand for pilots and cabin crew is primarily on account of the higher number of aircraft flying in Indian skies. In 2016-17, there were 493 planes in operation -- 98 more than in 2013-14.  The rise in the number of pilots has been driven primarily by Indigo Airlines. In 2013-14, the carrier had just about 900 pilots and co-pilots on its rolls -– much less than both Air India and Jet Airways. As of date, Indigo has almost 2,100 pilots –- more than the combined pilot strength of Air India and its subsidiaries such as Alliance Air and Air India Express. This rise in the number of pilots and cabin crew hired by India’s airlines seems to be carefully calibrated to their growing fleet. In 2013-14, there were just about 13 pilots and 25 cabin crew for every aircraft in Indian skies. In 2016-17, there were 15 pilots and 26 cabin crew for every plane in the country.

This boom in hiring seems to have continued well into 2017-18 despite the fact that airlines are bleeding money owing to an increase in ATF prices by almost 19 per cent during the period. While other airlines haven’t revealed their pilot and cabin crew strength in 2017-18, Indigo seems to have increased pilots and cabin crew during this period. It added 255 pilots and 755 cabin crew in 2017-18, the year in which it had posted a profit of Rs 22 billion. But Indigo posted a loss of almost Rs 65 million in the second quarter of 2018-19. While other big airlines like Jet Airways are struggling to stay afloat and pay staff on time. It remains unclear how they will manage their highly paid pilot strength in a scenario where they are aggressively leasing new planes and battling high fuel prices and taxes – a double jeopardy of sorts.  

Curiously enough, while the number of pilots on the payrolls of airlines has increased since 2014, the quantum of pilot licences issued by India’s aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has declined. In 2014, the DGCA had issued 783 commercial pilot licences (CPLs) in addition to 471 airline transport pilot licences (ATPLs). In 2017, it issued just 557 CPLs and 460 ATPLs. This is less than half the number of commercial pilot licences issued back in 2010, when the number of aircraft and airlines were fewer than at present. While there have been reports of fraudulent licences being issued to people who fudged their pilot training and flying hours, this steep decline in the number of licences issued still remains unexplained. A mail sent to Ved Prakash, director of DGCA, did not elicit a response till the time of publication.

Even as pilots and cabin crew have increased, there has been a drastic reduction in the number of maintenance staff. In 2016-17, there were just about 12 maintenance personnel for every aircraft. This is less than half the employee strength in that category in 2013-14. This drastic fall in the number of maintenance employees can be attributed to Air India’s pruning of its staff strength, the brunt of which has been borne by this category of employees. Air India manages its maintenance staff through Air India Engineering Services Ltd (AIESL), which was hived off as a separate subsidiary in 2004. Barring Air India and Jet Airways, other airlines have seen a moderate rise in employment in this category. The national airline’s maintenance staff, which numbered almost 6,700 in 2013-14 is now down by almost a tenth. This is despite the fact that Air India now flies 32 more planes. It seems Air India’s flab was concentrated pretty much in its maintenance and overhaul operations. In 2013-14, Air India had 63 maintenance staff for every craft. As of date, it has five maintenance staff for every plane – the same as Indigo.

While the number of pilots per aircraft in India may look impressive, a global comparison would reveal that India’s airlines have stocked up with too many pilots for every aircraft as compared to their global peers. According to Canada-headquartered simulation maker CAE Inc, there are 11 pilots for every narrow-bodied aircraft across the world. In India, where seven out of 10 aircraft are narrow bodied single aisle planes, there are 15 pilots apiece. Boeing estimates that as Asia Pacific airlines buy more planes, an additional 261,000 pilots will be needed by 2037 in this region alone. An additional 321,000 cabin crew and 257,000 technicians would be needed during this period to serve passengers and service the aircraft. Despite the visible flab, that should be good news for Indians who pay millions of rupees to get that coveted pilots licence.