Careers in Aviation Industry
Before talking about the careers in the aviation industry, let us first explore the glory attached to the profession. A job in the aviation industry not only offers you the opportunity of roaming around the world and exploring the distant destinations, staying in luxury hotels, having a status in life but also offers a good pay and perk package. Moreover, the charm of flying high-technology machines and contributing to flying provides you a sense of satisfaction that you are part of a sector that adds up to the country’s economy. Another mystique attached to the aviation industry job is name and fame.
Scope to Make Careers in Aviation Industry in India:
The steady growth of the aviation industry in India is opening up a host of career opportunities in aviation industry. The aviation industry not only offers jobs such as pilots, aircraft engineers but also a host of other lesser-known vocations such as air transportation staff, customer care executive, reservation agents, transport agents, travel counsellors, baggage handlers and so on.
Besides this, massive expansion is expected to take place in technical department which is the only field where virtually all branches of engineering, right from electronics to mechanical and civil to production, find a scope.
“The general perception about jobs in this field is restricted to those of pilots or air hostesses but in today’s scenario, a holistic approach reveals that there are a large number of professions and vocations associated directly as well as indirectly with it” opines former Wing Commander D. P. Sabharwal.
The buck doesn’t stop here, even the military division has a lot in store. Military division (that is popularly known as Indian Air Force) has been a significant part of the aviation in India. With the emergence of private airline industry and focus on research and development as well as increasing demand for manufacture of aircraft has created need for professionals in the field of Civil Aviation too.
Besides, pilots and flight attendants, the technical division of aviation industry needs personnels for developing and maintaining the equipments and parts required for aircrafts both for use in commercial and military aircrafts. These include missiles and fighter planes etc. Aeronautical engineers in aeronautical engineering are need to ensure proper functioning of every part of the aircraft. Research and invention is on-going process in the technical branch.
Popular jobs in the ground duty branch of airlines, include air traffic control unit, administrative and managerial staff, airport managers, security personnel, public relations officers, travel counsellors, reservation and ticketing staff, catering staff, baggage handlers etc.
So far as demand is concerned, general perception of people still holds the notion that after attaining pilot’s licence, one can only fly a commercial aircraft that facilitate the movement of men and material. But the scope is much more than this. Licence acquisition makes you eligible not only for the job of a commercial pilot but you can work as agricultural pilot, helicopter pilot, corporate pilot, space pilot, military pilot and even a flight instructor.
Cabin crew job in aviation industry is the dream destination of many aspirants. Working as a cabin crew can be an interesting venture for the youngsters. Entry barriers, in the terms of educational qualifications, are very less and emoluments are quite high. In addition, cabin crew gets opportunities to visit world’s exotic locations.
Job Challenges in Aviation Industry:
No doubt, making careers in aviation industry is one of the highly paid propositions and a popular deal but the work involved is not as simple as it appears. It is one of the highly responsible jobs where there is no room for error. Whether it is the job of a pilot, flight attendant or even a baggage handler, one holds responsibility for both the safety of passengers as well as the reputation of airlines.
Secondly, one has to work in odd hours, timings are unearthly and this could prove taxing on your body as well as your social life. At times, you may be required to work under stress and strain. Also an absolute mental and physical fitness is required.
However, there are fewer divisions, such as, ground duties divisions, where some relaxation, in terms of medical and physical fitness is provided to the candidates. In other words, if you are medically unfit at any time, you will be grounded with considerable financial loss. It is better to have a medical fitness test done when you start preparing.
The cost of training is also quite high, specially in the case of pilots and engineers. For instance, a commercial pilot’s licence has to invest around Rs 5 lakh or more in aboard. Some private flying schools in the country charge as much as Rs 15 lakhs or above. However, some scholarships and stipends are available for those who possess extraordinary skills.
Functional Areas of Aviation Industry:
To know about functioning of airlines and how they coordinate their flight schedules at various airports, it is easy to understand the whole procedure if its operations are divided into three divisions – (i) Airlines Division (ii) Technical Division and (iii) Commercial Division. The pattern has been maintained in the following sections which spell out the range of career opportunities in aviation industry.
Airlines Divisions:
The main concern of airline division is to take care of the flying activities of the aircraft on the scheduled routes. Secondly, the airlines division ensures safety and efficiency of the flights. The work of staff in this division is directly related to the flying of the aircraft, such as Pilots, Co-pilots, Flight attendant/Flight Steward and so on.
Technical and Engineering Division:
It is important both for the safety of passengers as well as the safety of the crew that aircraft is developed and maintained properly. Team that develops, maintains and takes on the responsibility of proper functioning and repair of all aircraft’s parts, overhauling and its final testing comes under the working domain of this division. In short, engineering division ensures that airplane is fit for flying. Specialists, say, aeronautical engineers, mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, avionics experts form part of technical and engineering division of the aviation industry.
Commercial Division:
Tasks other than flying and maintaining the aircraft are handled by the ground duty staff that forms commercial division. Right from booking the tickets to informing passengers about their flight delay, handling reception and maintaining sales, commercial division takes on the charge of all these activities.
Experts, such as ticketing staff, travel counsellors, checking counterparts, security personnel, cargo handlers, people involved in air transport and catering are employed in commercial division. Over and above, there are business managers, travel tourism management executives, finance, law professionals and graduates who take on the tasks of baggage handlers, announcers, reservation and passenger service staff.
How to Get Jobs in Aviation Industry:
The controlling bodies like the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) carry out recruitments for various posts though advertisements. Job advertisements for these posts are generally published in the Employment News and/ or other national newspapers and journals.
As far as training is concerned, one has to acquire specific qualifications and experience for a particular job to make careers in aviation industry. For instance, aspirants seeking career in Indian Air Force, have to work hard to get admission in NDA or CDS to be eligible for these jobs. Similarly, an engineer has to take up all India engineering examination to pave their way to IIT or any other engineering college, to enter the field of aeronautical engineer.
Future of Aviation Industry:
Nevertheless, the industry is facing a number of challenges that are likely to raise the demand for more professionals. Some of these are – poor infrastructure, hauling air traffic as a result of mushrooming airlines, air navigation infrastructure and need for modern devices to cope up with the weather-related problems.
Future projections indicate that both the domestic as well as international aviation will give a spurt to the Indian aviation industry. Acquisition of new aircrafts by the Government, relaxation in rules for private airlines and opening doors for new airlines will increase the prospects for aviation growth.
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