Training Needs for Asian Carriers Growing Exponentially

Buoyed by burgeoning demand for air traffic in the region, Asian carriers will require unprecedented numbers of pilots, cabin crew and engineers by the end of the decade.

Speaking at the inaugural session of Asia Pacific Airline Training Symposium (APATS) 2024 underway in Singapore, Captain Ashim Mittra, Senior Vice President Flight Operations, IndiGo, and Captain Adrian Amaladoss, Divisional Vice President, Flight Operations, Training & Standards, Singapore Airlines, shared an insight into their requirements for trained personnel to meet future growth plans.

IndiGo plans to double its fleet by the end of the decade and sharing the airline’s flight, cabin and maintenance crew induction forecast, Mittra said the carrier’s forecast for 2030 will see it employ 35,000 pilots, cabin crew and maintenance crew.

At present, IndiGo has 18,300 pilots, cabin crew and maintenance crew. On an average, the airline will grow its staff by an average of 20% till 2018, and then grow at 10% annually till 2030. The average age of IndiGo pilots is 37 years with 54% of them between the age of 31-40. Mittra said that the airline has approximately 800 woman pilots.

IndiGo presently has approximately 5,200 pilots (2,700 Captains and 2,500 First Officers). At any given point of time, IndiGo has over 700 pilots in training, with approximately 120 released for operations after completion of training. IndiGo now has service agreements with nine Flight Training Organisations for its Cadet Programme from whom it plans to intake the bulk of its future pilots.