The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : A lucrative career option

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 12, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

A lucrative career option

K. Satyamurty

One can earn a starting salary of Rs. 1 lakh a month and more after a 40-week course

Bangalore: If you have only passed 10 plus 2, you may imagine career options are limited. Even call centres have become choosy. If your parents have deep pockets and you have the right attitude and aptitude, a career as an airline pilot waits for you, 40 weeks of training overseas later. You could earn a starting salary of Rs. 1 lakh a month with a domestic airline or perhaps, a bit more with an international carrier.

New Delhi-based Aerostar Aviation is doing what contact centres for foreign universities are into. They arrange all the formalities for you to learn to become a licensed commercial pilot at Flight Safety Academy in Florida, U.S., one of the largest pilots' training academy in the world. Aerostar Chief Executive Officer Air Vice Marshal (retd) A.J.S. Walia told presspersons here that his post IAF stint with aviation was operating the non-scheduled airline, Club One Air, mostly ferrying top business executives. "The way private domestic aviation is growing and the need for 1,000 trained pilots over the next one or two years, prompted the new venture. Also, the fact that many of our private carriers are paying large salaries in dollars to pilots from abroad,'' he said.

The training in Florida does not come cheap; the tuition fees alone amount to $ 60,000 but can be paid in monthly instalments. Additional expenses will be for food and accommodation as for any student attending a U.S. university. Aerostar plans to send around 100 trainees from India for each batch and has reserved 30 seats for Karnataka. One batch is a few weeks into their training. For those with higher ambitions, there is a longer flight instructor training too, which will cost an additional $ 8,000. But that has its advantages too. During the pilot training course one notches up close to 225 hours of flying; the experience most airlines expect. As a flying instructor, you can put in another 850 hours over a one-year job contract. So, at the end of it all, you can even become an airline captain and still be less than 25 years with years of a career ahead of you.

"We arrange student loans through some banks and are in talks with others. The banks treat it like any other course of higher studies at a foreign university. Some banks may have misgivings but it is now up to the government to treat it as any other professional course and make it easier for student pilots and their parents,'' says the former air force officer.

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