India’s Pilot Shortage Looks A Lot Like A Bottleneck

For months now, the refrain has been loud and consistent: India has a pilot shortage. Airlines have said this repeatedly when flights are cancelled. Government officials cite it as a challenge to ambitious fleet expansion. Industry groups warn it could stall the country’s rise as the world’s fastest-growing aviation market.

But is the shortage real? Or is it a case of mismatched supply and demand?

With airlines ordering hundreds of new aircraft, training academies graduating thousands of cadets, and regulators struggling to keep pace, India’s pilot ecosystem sits at a crossroads.

Experts believe that the so-called shortage is less a question of numbers and more a problem of hierarchy, hiring practices, and system bottlenecks. While hundreds of fresh commercial pilot licence (CPL) holders wait for opportunities, airlines say they lack enough experienced commanders.

Flying schools churn out graduates, but many remain underutilised. As global carriers recruit Indian captains, the gap between perception and reality widens.

The Numbers Game

India’s aviation industry is seeing unprecedented expansion. Passenger traffic is booming, airports are congested, and airlines are in shopping mode like never before. IndiGo alone has placed orders for more than 1,000 aircraft, Air India nearly 500, while Akasa, SpiceJet, and others are also scaling up.

With this fleet growth, demand for pilots should be surging. Forecasts suggest India will need 35,000–40,000 new pilots in the next decade, with at least 7,000 required by 2026.

Aviation consulting firm CAPA India projects a total demand of 22,400 pilots by FY 2030, while the civil aviation minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu has spoken of a need for 20,000-plus pilots in the near future.

Yet, the supply pipeline isn’t negligible. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issues around 1,200–1,500 commercial pilot licences each year. Flying schools across India graduate hundreds annually. If numbers alone were the issue, the gap should be bridgeable. So why do airlines continue to claim there is a shortage?

The Core has written to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), IndiGo and Air India for their comments, and will update this story if and when they respond. IndiGo, however, said it did not wish to answer the questions posed by us.

An Artificial Shortage?

Aviation expert Manish Sinha argued that the problem was not a lack of pilots, but a system that produces what he called an “artificial shortage.”

“We have 36 academies producing pilots,” he explained. “But they are just left on their own. On one hand, there is a shortage of pilots in scheduled carriers. On the other hand, pilots are moving with CVs, ready to take up even clerical jobs. The mismatch is glaring.”

He cited examples of training batches where only half the graduates find jobs. “When schools introduce around 200 pilots, why are only 100 getting absorbed? Either the employers are finding a mismatch, or the training isn’t aligned. That needs to be fixed.”

Neville Bharucha, who runs Carver Aviation, one of India’s established flying schools, backs this with data. “Considering data from 5 years, on average, 60+ pilots graduate from our school every year, and about 70% are placed with airlines in India,” he said. “India currently does not face a shortage of trained pilots. If you see the statistics, no hiring has been done by airlines in the previous year.”

That hiring freeze, he pointed out, is not unusual in a cyclical industry. “Hiring patterns are random. They depend on demand and supply. Because international airlines offer lucrative packages, experienced pilots shift abroad. That creates a shortage of commanders. But fresh CPL holders are also hired regularly to maintain the balance and train a new workforce.”

Currently, India’s skies are dominated by two airlines — IndiGo and Air India. Industry insiders said there’s a mutual understanding between them: they won’t recruit each other’s pilots or crew. The result? Pilots who want to move up the ladder often find themselves stuck, with few domestic options, and many end up looking abroad for better opportunities.

What was the situation like when Jet Airways also dominated the skies? “When Jet Airways was operational, pilots used to get balanced opportunities, and hiring was rather predictable. There were opportunities with full-service carriers to low-cost domestic and international airlines. The balance got disrupted with Jet Airways going down, but airlines like Akasa Airlines and Star Air coming up post-pandemic have created a more balanced demand for pilots,” Bharucha added.

Captains vs Co-Pilots

The most striking divide in this debate is between co-pilots and captains.

“There is no shortage of co-pilots,” said aviation examiner Mihir Bhagvati. “The shortage is only of captains. Every year, India produces over 1,200 new co-pilots. In fact, some who joined IndiGo or Air India last year are still waiting to start flying. That doesn’t look like a shortage to me.”

Becoming a captain is far harder than getting a CPL. Officially, the DGCA requires 1,500 flying hours for a pilot to move up. In practice, it takes 2,500–3,500 hours, sometimes even 6,000, depending on skills and airline hierarchy.

“Not every co-pilot becomes captain,” Bhagwati said. “You need decision-making ability, the capacity to handle pressure, and maturity. A captain isn’t just flying the aircraft—he’s managing weather, loads, calculations, and safety under pressure. It’s not like driving a car.”

Bharucha echoed Bhagwati’s thoughts that airlines lean heavily toward experienced hires when under pressure. “Because international carriers attract captains, LTCs, and examiners with perks, domestic airlines scramble to replace them. That means more emphasis on hiring experienced pilots first, which can slow the induction of new CPL holders. But airlines do recruit freshers too, depending on fleet growth.”

The bottleneck, then, is not at the entry level but at the command upgrade stage. With many senior captains due to retire in the next few years, the crunch could intensify.

The Training Bottleneck

Beyond hierarchy, India’s training ecosystem has its own limitations. The country has about 34–35 DGCA-approved flying training organisations (FTOs), often running on ageing aircraft and imported simulators. Collectively, they can turn out about 800–1,000 CPL holders annually—less than the demand curve suggests.

At Carver Aviation, Bharucha said around 70% find placements. The rest often look abroad or wait for hiring windows. “The demand for pilots will rise gradually with airline fleet expansion,” he predicts. “But it depends on infrastructure. There are delays in aircraft deliveries and a huge backlog in spares due to instability in the global market.”

What happens to the 30% who do not find placements? “Trainees not placed in airlines tend to choose alternate options in the industry. Some of them join FTOs and serve as ground instructors/flight instructors. Some wait for domestic hiring, and very few move abroad. Very few shift to alternate careers but always try to come back into the industry,” Bharucha added.

The cost of training adds another layer of difficulty. Aspiring pilots spend Rs 70 lakh to Rs 1.5 crore to get their licence. Many families stretch finances to fund this dream, only to discover placement isn’t guaranteed.

Some airlines are stepping in. IndiGo runs cadet programs with Chimes Aviation Academy and NFTI Gondia. Air India is building a training academy in Amaravati to produce about 180 cadets annually. SpiceJet is working on a program at Hisar. But as Sinha points out, “When only half a batch gets absorbed, the pipeline remains leaky.”

A Fatigue Crisis in the Cockpit

For those already flying, the challenge is not underemployment but overwork.

“The shortage is causing chaotic rosters,” Sinha said. “Pilots don’t know if they will be called tomorrow. Standby duty is the worst—it burns you out.”

This is more than a scheduling annoyance; it’s a safety issue. Globally, fatigue is recognised as one of aviation’s biggest risks. Recent accidents and near misses in India have triggered scrutiny of whether airlines are stretching their pilots too thin.

Poaching and Attrition

Even as young pilots wait to fly, experienced ones are leaving. Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian carriers offer higher salaries, better rosters, and tax perks. For Indian commanders, the lure is hard to resist.

This attrition has grown severe enough that India raised the issue at the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), calling for a global code of conduct to prevent “poaching.” For now, though, pilots are free agents—and many prefer to fly abroad.

Adding to the problem is the DGCA itself, which is grappling with shortages of its own. Nearly half of its technical posts remain vacant. This slows down everything from command upgrade exams to licence renewals. Bhagvati points out that delays in conducting “viva” exams for captains have left many co-pilots waiting, unable to move up the ladder.

So, is there a pilot shortage? The answer depends on the frame of reference.

At the entry level, hundreds of young pilots graduate each year, many waiting for jobs. At the top, experienced commanders are in short supply, with retirements and attrition creating gaps. In between, regulatory delays and mismatched hiring exacerbate the imbalance.