There are nearly 10,000 pilots, including 67 foreign nationals, currently employed with various scheduled and non-scheduled Indian carriers, according to data from the Indian aviation regulator the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Of this number, 15 per cent or 1,500 are women pilots, which is three times the global average of 5 per cent.
With a total number of 1,677 aircraft on order by the various Indian carriers over the next ten years, the country needs to significantly ramp up training in areas such as inflight and engineering.
On February 14 Air India had surprised the global aviation industry by placing an order for 470 narrow and widebody aircraft.
Air India CEO Campbell Wilson has said the national flag carrier would need to hire expat pilots for its Boeing 777 fleet, though he clarified their numbers would be minimal, at the recently concluded CAPA India Aviation summit in New Delhi.
