IndiGo announced on Thursday that it has partnered with Garuda Aviation Academy to train fresh pilots as future junior first officers under the airline's Cadet Pilot Programme. The 21-month course includes a three-month ground schooling at Garuda Aviation Academy training centre in Gurugram, followed by 12 months of training at 43 Air School in South Africa, which has a record of training over 6,000 ab-initio pilots over the years, according to IndiGo.
Over the past 13 years, the airline has formed eight such partnerships and inducted over 1,000 pilots through these full training programmes, which include obtaining a commercial pilot license and A320 type rating, as per the airline.
These courses cover the entire process, from cadet selection to induction into the airline as a pilot, according to IndiGo.
Captain Ashim Mittra, Senior Vice President for flight operations at IndiGo, told PTI, that the partnership with Garuda Aviation Academy will bolster IndiGo’s Cadet Pilot Programme. They believe that this 21-month course will successfully nurture the next generation of skilled pilots who will continue to uphold IndiGo's commitment to providing safe, affordable and hassle-free travel for everyone.
Moreover, this initiative aligns seamlessly with the central government's regional air connectivity scheme, the Udan mission, reinforcing IndiGo's commitment to connecting with smaller and medium-sized towns and cities, he added.
India is set to experience a huge demand for pilots as domestic carriers IndiGo, Air India and Akasa have together ordered 1,120 aircraft since February last year.
Besides these orders, Indian carriers are also set to receive deliveries of new planes that were ordered earlier. IndiGo alone has an order book of nearly 1,000 planes.
According to Capa data, India's commercial airlines are likely to nearly double their fleet size to 1,400 by the 2029-30 fiscal year.
To fly these planes, the country needs at least 10,900 additional pilots by 2030, which translates to about 1,600 new pilots a year, as per Capa.
