Government considering issuing multiple pilot licences

In a move that would address low cost airlines’ long-pending demand and will also be a global first, the government is considering a proposal to issue multiple pilot licences. It will allow a pilot to fly more than one type of aircraft within a category of aircraft or in multiple categories. According to ministry sources, in November, the directorate general of civil aviation had already relaxed the norms on flying helicopters. A pilot under a single licence can fly both a single engine copter and a twin-engine (two rotors) helicopter and can also fly two different kinds of copters in one day. The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation estimates India’s aviation industry employs around 2,500 pilots and there is an immediate shortage of 450.

The government is considering this since there is a huge dearth of pilots and it fears sustaining the almost 50% growth in the domestic sector may be difficult under the circumstances. However, globally, no major airline currently allows a pilot to fly more than one type of aircraft. It’s considered unsafe because of the totally different cockpit handling of aircraft since they belong to different manufacturers. “None of the airlines is doing it. The two major reasons being the cockpit support of different aircraft (Boeing and Airbus) is completely different and it is very difficult for a pilot to adapt to different aircraft type,” a senior pilot with an international carrier said. International carriers like the Singapore Airlines, Emirates also do not allow their pilots, even the ones trained on both, to fly two separate kinds of aircraft.

As per the federal aviation administration, the pilot certifying agency in the USA, pilots are certified to fly aircraft of a specific category that includes airplane, rotorcraft, powered-lift, glider etc and class (in a bigger aircraft type it encompasses the four classes of single-engine land, multi-engine land, single-engine sea, and multi-engine sea). Certain kinds of aircraft also require a type rating. While according to Transport Canada, the authority that issues pilot licence in the country, the individual type rating applies to a single specific type (model) of aircraft and allows the pilot to fly only that type. For example, a person with a private pilot licence--helicopter with a rating for the Bell 407 helicopter may fly only that helicopter and no other.

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