Helicopter pilots left high and dry despite aviation sector boom

The aviation industry is booming. Experienced pilots are flooded with offers and many airlines are 'poaching' on their rivals and are picking up flying instructors from aviation academies and flying clubs.

But all this heightened activity has not even touched helicopter pilots.

One main reason for this is that state governments and companies, which own and operate helicopters, are not planning to expand their fleet.

Also the helicopters have a limited capacity, speed and range, commercial flying is not a profitable proposition. The maximum capacity of a helicopter is 28 and such helicopters are used by ONGC to ferry passengers. And you need only two pilots.

Wing Commander P L Hannolkar of the HAL Rotary Wing Academy, Bangalore, says, "There are about 80 to 100 helicopters in the country, owned mainly by airlines, corporate houses and state governments. While one helicopter would require two or three pilots, there is no spurt in demand for pilots."

While some aviation training schools and flying clubs provide helicopter flying in addition to other planes, HAL Rotary Wing Academy specialises in just training students to be helicopter pilots.

"About 90 per cent of the country's helicopter pilots today are retired army, air force or navy personnel. In addition, helicopters have a limited use, range and speed. There simply cannot be the kind of demand for helicopter pilots, like the demand that we are witnessing in the fixed wing airplane segment at present," said Col V K Nagar, chief administrative officer, Ahmedabad Aviation and Aeronautics (AAA), that proves commercial pilots licences for fixed wing aircraft.

As of today, there are not more than 100 helicopters in the country. According to industry sources, Pawan Hans has 19 helicopters, Mesco Airlines has three and Global Vectra has four.

Besides, almost all state government have helicopters and a few top corporates of the country, primarily ONGC, too have helicopters.

HAL Rotary Wing Academy provides three courses in helicopter flying, ranging from six months to 15 months, while the course fees range from 3.35 lakh to 8.15 lakh and admits about 15 students per batch.

Getting a private helicopter licence requires the students to complete 40 hours of flight training with 15 hours of solo flying besides getting through a written examination on basic aviation subjects.