New checks leave hundreds of Indian pilots with invalid licenses

A new process of pilot checks in India is leaving airlines with hundreds of captains flying with expired licenses, it has been revealed.

Late last year, the country’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) imposed a new rule requiring all pilots to undertake Pilot Proficiency Checks (PPCs) every six months, or twice a year. But following a series of recent inspections, the DGCA found that hundreds of pilots had not taken the tests, meaning that they were effectively flying with invalid licenses.

The Economic Times reported an unnamed official with the DGCA as saying that “all” of India’s main carriers were found to be employing pilots with expired licenses.

“All Indian carriers – Jet, Air India, SpiceJet, GoAir and IndiGo – have some pilots who have not completed all checks required to keep their flying licences valid,” the official was quoted saying.

Jet and Air India were found to be the worst offenders, each with more than 100 unlicensed pilots in their payroll. The “three low-cost” airlines – GoAir, IndiGo and SpiceJet – have “almost 100 cases”, the official added.

But the airlines argue that the implementation of the six-month checks is impractical. For its part, Air India stated that the “new six-monthly check would have required us to renew nearly 800 licences overnight, which was not possible”.

And whatever the outcome, it appears that many of the pilots will be allowed to continue flying.

“It is not possible to ground so many pilots in one go, else flights will be grounded… and travellers will be left stranded,” the DGCA official said.