Air India To Have a Flying School in Maharashtra: Report This full-time academy will allow aspiring pilots with no prior flying experience to directly join Air India's fleet after completing their training, said a report by ET

To address shortage of pilots, Air India is setting up a school in Maharashtra's Amravati to train as many as 180 pilots a year, according to a report by The Economic Times. This full-time academy will allow aspiring pilots with no prior flying experience to directly join Air India's fleet after completing their training, the report said. Air India has acquired approximately 30 single-engine and four multi-engine aircraft from American company Piper and European manufacturer Diamond for this purpose, the report said.

The development also comes amid the government's push to promote commercial pilot training within India. Many students go abroad for training, which is expensive and can go as high as INR 2 crore. Former AirAsia India CEO and Tata group veteran Sunil Bhaskaran, who is currently the managing director of Air India Aviation Academy, is overseeing the development.

Initially, the academy will focus on meeting Air India's internal needs, but the Tata group plans to eventually offer training to external candidates as well, the report added. Meanwhile, the airline has set up its own training center in Gurugram in partnership with Airbus and US-based L3 Harris that has six simulators.

Notably, India will need 2,840 new aircraft and 41,000 pilots as well as 47,000 technical staff in the next 20 years. India is set to be the most exciting aviation market of the 21st century, with long-term rapid growth for both domestic and international traffic. However, in order to support this once-in-a-generation growth, there will need to be a complete re-think of India's physical, institutional & skills infrastructure.