Govt rule that kept US pilots at bay

Washington: Lobbied heavily by airlines in the US to stem the flow of their pilots to India, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) ruled in 2007 that Americans holding pilot’s licences cannot be employed by airlines in India beyond the age of 60.
The discriminatory decision to help an American industry with huge lobbying power worldwide was made even as DGCA rules allowed pilots of every other nationality, including Indians, to fly until they were 65 years old.
The decision prompted nearly 50 American pilots, whose applications to fly with Indian carriers were pending with Indian authorities, to change their plans for a career shift to India, according to a source in the DGCA who is familiar with the way the national regulator caved into US corporate interests.
While the questionable decision, which had been influenced by civil aviation minister Praful Patel, may have had no bearing on the weekend’s crash of an Air India Express flight, it forced airlines in India, both private and state-owned, to turn in a big way to pilots from non-English-speaking countries to overcome a shortage.
Difficulties in following instructions in English from air controllers and an inability to cope with heavy air traffic during landings and takeoffs by such pilots have been among the staple of complaints about the safety of aviation in India, following a recent boom in this industry.
The irony of India’s decision to ban American pilots who are over 60 was that it was made one month after the US Congress actually raised their retirement age to 65 to cope with a shortage of pilots in airlines in America.
The change merely required flight captains in the US who are over 40 to pass stipulated medical check ups, including cardiac examinations every six months instead of annually for younger pilots.
In addition to the 50-odd American pilots who withdrew their applications with the Indian regulator to fly with airlines in the country in 2007, several others left Indian carriers as a dead end after the DGCA changed its rules precipitously, according to sources in the airline industry.
24/05/10 K P Nayar/The Telegraph

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Categories: Airports May 2010, Indian Aviation- In General May 2010, Safety May 2010