The Hindu Business Line : Jet Airways for extending term of foreign pilots to 3 years

JET Airways has asked the Government to consider allowing foreign pilots to operate in India for three years instead of the current limit of one year. The airline's Chief Executive Officer, Mr Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, said that as an interim measure, the airline has asked the Government to allow foreign pilots to fly for three years.

"The airline is clear that this is an intermediary solution. Eventually, all our planes will be flown by pilots from India itself. The foreign pilots will be phased out when Indian pilots become available," he said.

Jet, like many other airlines, has been forced to hire foreign pilots to operate the increased flights being operated by them. Apart from Jet, the state-owned airline Air India has also employed foreign pilots. While there are enough co-pilots available within the country, there is a shortage of commanders who are being inducted from abroad to operate these flights.

Meanwhile, Jet is also examining the possibility of operating to Brussels shortly. "We have applied for operating to Birmingham, and one of the alternative destinations that the airline could look at is Brussels. At the moment, there is no definitive decision," the CEO said.

While the airline was given permission to operate three flights a week on the India-Brussels-US route, earlier this year, it had only recently applied for permission to operate flights to Birmingham. The operation of the flight to the US, which was originally to be operated through Brussels, is in a limbo, as the clearances for it have not yet been received.

The airline is yet to take a decision on whether it will impose any additional surcharge on the international flights that it operates. In the recent past, a host of international airlines have imposed a fuel surcharge to offset the spiralling prices of aviation turbine fuel (ATF).

At present, the airline operates to London, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Colombo and Kathmandu.

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