Flight schools navigate the expansion route on hopes of aviation turnaround

Though Covid has led to concerns about pilots' job prospects, flight schools believe that the situation will change soon and the choice of piloting as a profession will remain as lucrative as ever

Kumar Ashish felt elated when he was selected for IndiGo’s cadet pilot programme. Run by India’s largest airline, the programme partners flying training organisations in India and overseas and is one of the most trusted by aspirant pilots. One of the attractions of the programme was the airline’s rapid expansion plans.

A fresh graduate like Ashish believed he was assured placement with the airline after completing his ground training and navigation and flying training. But his timing was inopportune. “I enrolled for the course in 2019 with one of IndiGo’s certified organisations. At that time the airline was conducting almost four