Indian representatives have submitted a document to the upcoming ICAO Assembly objecting to the poaching of air transport personnel by foreign operators, at a time when the country’s aviation industry is undergoing rapid expansion.
The working paper to the Assembly, which convenes on 23 September, says Indian airlines are investing “substantial time and resources” in recruiting new pilots, cabin crew and maintenance staff in order to scale up operations.
“However, airlines from other [ICAO member states] tend to recruit experienced pilots [and other personnel] from Indian carriers, preventing India’s civil aviation sector from achieving planned and orderly growth,” it states.
“This practice creates a vicious cycle where Indian carriers are force to continuously recruit and train replacement personnel by diverting resources from expansion activities and operational improvements.”
The paper says the effect is “particularly severe” for specialised positions – including type-rated pilots and maintenance engineers – for which replacement training can take “months or even years”.
“This practice creates an unfair competitive disadvantage where Indian carriers effectively subsidise the training costs of foreign airlines while bearing the operational disruption costs themselves,” it adds.
It points out that the Indian government and private airports have established a number of initiatives – such as land rental measures and reduced charges – to benefit flight-training organisations and support aviation development in the country.
Indian carriers, among them Air India and IndiGo, have large backlogs of aircraft orders intended to accommodate the strong growth in air travel demand. The paper says domestic passenger numbers alone are projected to reach 300 million by 2030.
“This rapid expansion of civil aviation necessitates skilled and technically sound staffing to be recruited and retained,” it states.
But the paper accuses “competing carriers” from other countries of recruiting trained personnel “without any notice” to Indian airlines, which “adversely” impacts Indian airlines’ ability to deploy additional aircraft to their fleets and develop the country’s international civil aviation industry “in an orderly manner”.
It claims this practice runs contrary to the principles of the Chicago Convention – citing Article 44, which seeks to ensure that every ICAO contracting state has a “fair opportunity” to operate international airlines.
“For Indian carriers…any loss of technical and skilled staffing tends to first impact their ability to serve international markets,” the paper says. Airlines are forced to concentrate resources on stabilising their current operations, to avoid cancellations and other disruption, rather than expanding.
While the Indian government has mandated notice periods and other measures covering the domestic movement of pilots between the country’s own airlines, the paper is urging the development of a “code of conduct” for transfer of staff between different countries to mitigate the international pressure on Indian carriers.
