1. Orient Flight School (OFS) came into being in 1994, at Puducherry, about 160 km South of Chennai on the eastern coast of India. Significantly, it came up at a time when Civil Aviation in India was at its infancy and thus not being a profitable venture. For the founder of the Hindustan Group of Educational Institutions; Dr. K C G Verghese, starting a Pilot training School was driven more by passion, than by any business motive. The vision envisaged by the Founder was to bring Pilot training, as a viable and affordable career option for any ordinary youth, willing to give it a try. Now, after 16 years from that day, the “Vision” has evolved to cater to the need of the changing times. From the current perspective, the vision for Orient Flight School is to be a dominant player in the Aviation Industry, particularly in the area of Commercial Pilot Training, not only in India, but ultimately in the ASEAN region.
Aviation environment:
2. This vision has to necessarily take into account the environment in which OFS is operating; viz, Global, National, Aviation industry, Regulatory Mechanisms and the Market demands. At the Global level, Safety is being given the utmost importance. . In that;
· Risks of collision between aircraft would be reduced.
· Operations would be quick and most cost effective.
· User preferred routes (UPR), would be sought after, rather than pre-designated routes.
· Non Precision Approach (NPA) to the runway would give way to Approaches with Vertical guidance (APV).
· Dynamic Airborne Re-routing procedures (DARP) would be resorted to.
· Airlines would not expect to pay for all these services and so would the respective Governments also feel.
3. At the national level, for implementation during the 7 years period from 2009 to 2015, the Government has allocated Rs.10, 000/- crores, for Civil Aviation related programmes. The Business leaders are demanding that the Aviation industry be brought under the ambit of “Infrastructure industry”, from the currently placed “Service Provider” industry. They are also asking the Central and all state Governments to bring down the sales tax on ATF, as done already, by the states of Maharastra and Karnataka.
4. On the other hand, the Academic community and the think tanks of the industry feel…
(a). India must pay attention to Regional connectivity between Tier II and III cities.
(b). There is no need to build new airports. There are too many un-utilized airports in the country, which should be put to use.
(c). Emphasis should shift from Turbo fan to Turbo Prop aircraft, to keep the fuel consumption low, obtain speed of around 550 KMPH, with about 90 passengers per aircraft.
(d) Aircraft construction must shift from the present day “Metal” to “Composites”, since the latter are light and strong.
(e) Airframe should be a common platform, which can be fitted with turbo fan or turbo prop engines, as per the requirement, at a given time.
5. The approach of the Government of India is to create a free and fair regulatory environment and also to facilitate the creation of the required human resource in the country. The Civil Aviation programme of the Government includes the development of “Hansa” aircraft to be used as a trainer aircraft, in various flying schools of the country.
Future trends for India :
6. (a) Communication: The technology would shift from voice communication to Data communication. It would be carried out through communication satellites with a voice backup.
(b) Navigation: Instrument Landing System (ILS) equipment would be satellite based, with the help of GNSS and FMS. Ground based ILS would serve as a back-up. Normal Navigation would be carried out with the help of GAGAN, GBAS, PBN etc., with the ground based VOR / DME, as Back-up aids.
(c) Surveillance: Surveillance systems would comprise of a three systems such as, Ground based Radar, Airborne Radar Systems and Satellite based situational Awareness Systems.
(d) Licensing: Very soon a new type of licensing called Multi Crew Pilot Licence (MPL) would become the minimum requirement to get into an Airline.
7. However, the experts in the Regulatory arm of the Government feel that the certification process for all these new systems, which are going to be put in place are very complex and time consuming. Hence, it may be very difficult to complete the certification process, by the dead line anticipated for installation of various systems in the country.
Safety:
8. No amount of equipment and procedures can ensure safety, unless the basic sense of it is in grilled in an individual. This has to be cultivated right from the training stage. Therefore, the school, where the student is initiated into aviation, plays a very crucial and responsible part. Although, there are plenty of regulations in place to ensure safety, majority of people still break rules, wantonly. Why do they behave in such a callous manner? The answer lies in the mind set of the people, which can be set right, only by early education on the subject.
9. As for OFS, this education starts in the classrooms first, where the need for being safe, by obeying the rules and regulations are emphasized. This is followed by clearly explaining the logical sequence of procedures for each and every activity in the aircraft that will culminate in safe operations. Once the classroom phase is over, students are taken to the ALSIM-AL-50 Flight simulator, wherein they are demonstrated and then made to practice the procedures, they have been taught in the classroom. After they become proficient on the simulator, they are handed over to the caring hands of the Chief Flying Instructor (CFI) and his team of other instructors. This team teaches the actual execution and monitors the students in the air.
10. While the above sequence takes care of educating students and training them in the correct manner, another important aspect of Maintenance safety is meticulously adhered to. In that, if any aircraft is found to be lacking in the minimum prescribed safety standards, that aircraft is not allowed to fly, till such time the required safety standards are achieved by rectification.
11. In order to take care of situations that may go adverse in the air, such as inclement weather, aircraft malfunction, diversions forced due to in-advertent closure of runway etc; contingency plans are formulated and the knowledge of which is imparted to students, before they take to the air on their own.
12. In addition, the aircraft, pilots and all seats in the aircraft are insured as per Government specifications, to take care of any un-fortunate eventuality.
Selection process of the students:
13. The motto of Orient Flight School and all other institutions under the parent body of “Hindustan Group of Educational Institutions” is to “Make every man, a success and no man a failure”. Therefore, no cut off levels other than the Government specified mandatory minimums are set. Hence, the job becomes more difficult to train students, who may meet the minimum entry standards, but unable to progress satisfactorily.
14. To overcome this, prior to admitting a student, he/she and Parents are advised of the Probable weak’ areas (which also includes deficiencies in spoken English that is essential to Aviation) where the student must work on. Once the student joins the course formally, a common Aptitude test is given to the students, so as to classify the students into different categories and tailor their training accordingly.
Biggest challenges in the context of the changing business scenario:
15. The single most challenge is not the recession or the downtime of the aviation industry; but the most Un-focused approach of the students / parents in choosing a career in aviation and then changing the field midway, due to perceived market conditions. Career options can not be exercised in a speculative manner.
16. Another area of concern is the wide gap between the qualification criterion specified by the Government, for someone to be a professional pilot and employability criterion, expected by the Airline industry (who are the ultimate employers of pilots). When a student passes out of a Flying School, he/she has a licence to fly as a Commercial Pilot, but to become an Airline Pilot; one has to beat the competition. This can only be done by achieving additional qualifications in the field of Crew Resource Management (CRM), Carriage of Dangerous Goods (DG), Multi Engine Rating (MER), etc. Truly, if this gap is to be bridged, students should not only equip themselves with the basic license, but also with additional skills, which will only come at additional costs. Therefore, placement of students becomes a big challenge for flying schools.
Placement process in OFS:
17. OFS does not have formal agreements or tie-ups with any of the ultimate job providers (i.e.) Airlines. However, OFS keeps track of openings, not only in Airlines, but also in a lot of corporate, as well as Government departments. The resumes of all eligible candidates are sent to these companies or Government departments, along with a separate intimation to the student concerned. Thereafter, it is the student, who takes on with the company concerned.
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