India bemoans overseas airlines stealing experienced pilots and engineers
India has submitted a working paper to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) regarding increasing concerns that experienced pilots and engineers are being recruited by overseas airlines.
Ahead of the ICAO’s Assembly 42nd Session in Montreal, Canada, India’s working paper said that practices by “contracting states” were “adversely” impacting the country’s ability to develop its own international civil aviation.
“Airlines from other Contracting States tend to recruit experienced pilots, engineers, technicians, and cabin crew from Indian carriers, preventing India’s civil aviation sector from achieving planned and orderly growth,” said the paper, dated August 1, 2025.
India claims the practice was hampering its national airlines from deploying additional aircraft and that “competing carriers” were recruiting technical and skilled staff without any notice to Indian carriers.
“This practice creates a vicious cycle where Indian carriers are forced to continuously recruit and train replacement personnel by diverting resources from expansion activities and operational improvements,” the working paper stated.
It added that the impact was particularly severe for specialized roles such as type-rated pilots, where “replacement training can take months or even years”.
“This practice creates an unfair competitive disadvantage where Indian carriers effectively subsidize the training costs of foreign airlines while bearing the operational disruption costs themselves,” the paper claims.
India is calling for a universal Code of Conduct on movement of staff amongst ICAO member states, to mitigate the impact on Indian carriers.
The document states that India’s domestic aviation market has experienced unprecedented growth, with passenger numbers rising from 61 million to 166 million in just over 10 years.
Many leading Indian carriers, such as IndiGo, are expanding with huge aircraft orders agreed with Boeing and Airbus, and an increasing ambitious destination network.
The ICAO is a United Nations agency which helps 193 countries to cooperate and share their skies to their mutual benefit.
Assembly 42nd Session will be held in Montreal between September 23 and October 3, 2025.
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The post India bemoans overseas airlines stealing experienced pilots and engineers appeared first on AeroTime.
India has submitted a working paper to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) regarding increasing concerns that experienced…
The post India bemoans overseas airlines stealing experienced pilots and engineers appeared first on AeroTime.
