Ministry wants corporates to take over flying clubs

The civil aviation ministry is planning to urge leading corporate groups like Tata and Reliance to take over ailing flying clubs in the country.

The flying clubs are the only institutions that offer training to commercial pilots. There are around 35 flying clubs in India, but half of them have closed due to financial constraints. Some clubs have, however, managed to garner support from states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

Civil Aviation Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy said, "We are forming a committee to study the situation of flying clubs in the country. We have initiated discussions with leading corporate houses to sell these clubs. We will also approach Reliance and Tata in this regard."

While the clubs will get a fresh lease of life through such takeovers, corporates with manufacturing facilities spread across the country will get connectivity at a short notice.

Rasheid Jamsheid Taleyarkhan, honorary secretary of The Bombay Flying Club, said: "While our operating cost is around Rs 7 lakh a month, the revenue is in the range of Rs 3 lakh. There is a huge deficit that is eating into our savings, and under such conditions we will not be in a position to survive long."

Established in 1928, aviation pioneers like JRD Tata and the Engineer brothers graduated from The Bombay Flying Club in the late 1920s and 1930s.

"The club had earlier approached corporate houses like the Tatas and the Singhanias as well as Jet Airways, but did not get any response," Taleyarkhan added.

The flying clubs that have shut shop include the Nagpur Flying Club, Coimbatore Aviation Training Academy (Tamil Nadu), Rajasthan State Flying School (Jaipur), Bansathali Vidyapith Gliding & Flying Club (Rajasthan) and the Andaman & Nicobar Flying Training Institute.