Commercial Pilot License (CPL)
Who Is a Pilot?
An aircraft pilot is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. A pilot is a person who flies the aircraft, he/she is someone who is in the aviation industry, and who is able to operate aircraft in order to transport passengers or goods. The type of aircraft used depends on the pilot’s specialization. Some pilots fly helicopters while others fly larger commercial aircraft to transport tens or even hundreds of passengers. Other pilots fly cargo planes to move large amounts of mail, automobiles, industrial equipment and other goods from one area to another.

Civilian pilots fly aircraft of all types privately for pleasure, charity, or in pursuance of a business, or commercially for non-scheduled (charter) and scheduled passenger and cargo air carriers (airlines), corporate aviation, agriculture (crop dusting, etc.), forest fire control, law enforcement, etc. When flying for an airline, pilots are usually referred to as airline pilots, with the pilot in command often referred to as the captain. There were 290,000 airline pilots in the world in 2017.

Why to become a Pilot?
Every people work on land, be unique and work in sky…..
Becoming a pilot makes you a better planner decision maker; you will learn to be patient, with sense of urgency.
They tend to be realistic individuals, which mean they’re independent, stable, persistent, genuine, practical, and thrifty. They like tasks that are tactile, physical, athletic, or mechanical. Some of them are also investigative, meaning they’re intellectual, introspective, and inquisitive. Eligibility criteria: Candidate should pass 10+2 with Physics, Chemistry and Math from any recognised board. Adequate competency in the English Language is required.
Pilots must have normal color vision, distance acuity no worse than 20/70 in each eye correctable to 20/20, near vision 20/20 without correction, and meet other refraction and astigmatism requirements. Corrective eye surgery may also disqualify applicants for pilot or other specific roles.
Minimum age – 17 years
To become a pilot, you have to go through a Medical Examination which can only be done by DGCA approved Doctors.
Note: It is mandatory to clear both Medical Exams to become a pilot.
Get Approved by CLASS I, before Issuing you CPL license.
Get Approved by CLASS II, before joining any Flying Training School.
Process of Commercial Pilot License
As you start you training, your particular Academy takes Ground Classes and conduct Oral Exams/ Interview. As you clear that oral exam, they issue your Student Pilot License (SPL). Same like SPL you academy takes classes for Flight Radio Telephony Operation License (FRTOL) and after exam DGCA issue the FRTOL license. To be a CPL holder in India you need to clear all license paper and you have to complete 200hrs of flying on both single engine aircraft and multi-engine aircraft.
Subject Papers
1) Air Regulation
2) Air Navigation
3) Aviation Meteorology
4) Technical General (Aircraft and Engines)
DGCA conducts online exams for CPL License
Passing 70%
Eligibility
1. Class Xth passed
2. Cleared Class II Medical Exam by Aviation Authority Approved Medical Examiners.
3. Should be the age of 16 yrs and above
Types of Licenses
1) Student Pilot license (SPL)
2) FRTOL
3) Radio Telephony Restricted. (RTR)
(The Department of Telecommunications of the Govt.of India conducts the Test for
Radio Telephony Restricted License, as per published schedule).
4) Commercial Pilot License (CPL).
Training In Abroad
Commercial Pilot Training in Abroad
The standard of pilot training overseas will be of a higher grade. The facilities and maintenance of aircraft will be of world class. Training will be given by experienced and competent flight instructors.
The CPL training has been integrated with Multi Engine raining. Instrument flying provided will be of the highest standard. The training is based on DGCA standard and requirement. The students trained abroad can easily pass the DGCA conversion examination.
Even though there are institutes in India which offer pilot training, the number of these institutes does not meet up the demands of the aviation sector as a whole. Despite the swelling aviation sector, commercial Pilot Training Institutes in India are in their initial stage. Thus, most of the Indian students aiming to receive commercial Pilot Training usually go abroad. They seek for quality training from skilled instructors outside India to obtain the Commercial Pilot License.
There are 3 major advantages in opting for an overseas flight training school:
Technology advantage
Time advantage
Intensity Advantage
To elaborate further, the training facilities in foreign flight schools are years ahead in sophistication. The teaching methodology is current with modern equipments.
- The airport infrastructure is definitely better than what is prevalent in India.
- Even though India is up-grading the airports, it still has a long way to catch up.
- Gaining access to facilities like a Flight Simulator during training can only be a dream here. But the leading schools in overseas provide that experience too!
Coming to the aspect of time, due to the lack of infrastructure & aircrafts for training and with the shortage of Certified Flight Instructors in India, a pilot aspirant has to endure a training period of almost 3 years. Whereas it is just 15 months in US or few months in Canada or 10 months in Philippines! One of the factors for time saving is also the intensity of teaching. Due to the availability of more trained Pilot Instructors, the Trainee to Instructor ratio is high.
This translates into personalized and focused training sessions which are highly intensive. To sum it up, choosing a foreign training school is a smart! Get qualified better and faster. Start earning earlier!
PPL
The PPL is the initial start to your career in Aviation. This allows you to do private flights, and to train further for a Commercial Pilot License (CPL) in order to work commercially as a pilot. Extensive training is done on full time basis. Applicant will get PPL after 42-50 Hours of flying.
Instrument Rating (IR)
An Instrument Rating (IR) is the Rating that will allow you to fly in Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC). These are conditions of poor visibility, low cloud base and generally adverse weather. The Rating qualifies you to fly an Aircraft relying solely on its Flight Instruments.
Commercial Pilot License (CPL)
Your training continues with a commercial single-engine certificate, which takes you into the world of flying professionally. Next up is a commercial multi-engine rating. Having a multi- engine rating allows pilots to start training on specific commercial aircraft, including larger jets used by airlines.
The next step for most pilots is to become a Certified Flight Instructor (CFI). Being a CFI provides you with a number of advantages: you can earn money while you continue to perfect your pilot skills all while building flight hours to meet minimum airline hiring requirements.
Pilots in the United States must have 1,500 flight hours before they are eligible to receive their Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate. Don’t forget about sightseeing, banner towing, crop-dusting or surveying flights, too.
List of DGCA approved Pilot Flying Clubs in India
S.No | Name of the Organization | Address |
---|---|---|
1. | Asia Pacific Flight Training Academy Ltd. | Hyderabad, TELANGANA |
2. | Academy of Carver Aviation | Baramati, MAHARASHTRA |
3. | Alchemist Aviation Pvt. Ltd. | Jamshedpur, JHARKHAND |
4. | Ambitions Flying Club Pvt. Ltd | Aligarh, UTTAR PRADESH |
5. | Ahmedabad Aviation & Aeronautics Ltd. | Old Terminal, AHMEDABAD |
6. | Bihar Flying Institute | Patna, BIHAR |
7. | Banasthali Vidyapith Gliding Flying Club | Tonk, RAJASTHAN |
8. | Blue Ray Aviation Pvt. Ltd. | Hangar, MAHARASHTRA |
9. | Chetak Aviation | Aligarh,U.P |
10. | Chimes Aviation Academy | Sagar, MADHYA PRADESH |
11. | Flytech Aviation Academy | Secunderabad. TELANGANA |
12. | Falcon Aviation Academy | Faizabad UTTAR PRADESH |
13. | Govt. Aviation Training Institute | Bhubaneshwar, ODISHA |
14. | Garg Aviation Ltd., UP | Kanpur, UTTAR PRADESH |
15. | Global Konnect Aviation Services P. Ltd. | PantNagar Airport, UK |
16. | Govt. Flying Training School | Bangalore KARNATAKA |
17. | Gujarat Flying Club | Vadodara airport GUJARAT |
18. | Haryana Institute of Civil Aviation | Karnal, HARYANA |
19. | Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udan Akademy | Raebareilly, UTTAR PRADESH |
20. | Madhya Pradesh Flying Club, Indore/ Bhopal | Indore, MADHYA PRADESH |
21. | Nagpur Flying Club | Nagpur MAHARASHTRA |
22. | National Flying Training Institute, Pvt. Ltd, | Gondia, MAHARASHTRA |
23. | Orient Flight Aviation Academy. | Mysore KARNATAKA |
24. | Patiala Aviation Club | Patiala PUNJAB |
25. | Pioneer Flying Academy Pvt. Ltd | Aligarh, UTTAR PRADESH |
26. | Rajiv Gandhi Academy for Aviation Technology | Thiruvananthapuram, KERALA |
27. | Redbird Flight Training Academy Pvt. Ltd. | Baramati Airport, MAHARASTRA |
28. | Sha- Shib Flying Academy | Guna MADHYA PRADESH |
29. | SVKM NMIMS Academy ofAviation | Dhule, MAHARASHTRA |
30. | Saraswati Aviation Academy | Sultanpur, UTTAR PRADESH |
31. | Telangana State Aviation Academy | Hyderabad, TELANGANA |
32. | The Bombay Flying Club | Mumbai, MAHARASHTRA |
33. | Wings Aviation Pvt. Ltd. | Hyderabad, TELANGANA |
34. | FSTC Flying School Pvt. Ltd. | Bhiwani, HARYANA |
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is an Aircraft Engineer?
An Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (AME), also Licensed Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (LAME or L-AME), is a licensed person who carries out and certifies aircraft maintenance.
What does an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer do?
Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (AME) ensures the airworthiness of an aircraft, whether it is a fixed-wing airplane or a helicopter. They identify problems and repair and overhaul aircraft structural, mechanical and electrical systems.
What is the future of an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer?
In India,Recent industry reports suggest that nearly 72,900 jobs for technicians and AMEs will be created in India across Airlines and MRO sector by 2035. The need is to equip the AMEs with skills that make them dynamic stakeholders of India’s economic future.
Who is an Aeronautical Engineer?
Aeronautical engineer work across design and development of aircraft parts, testing new aerodynamic and aviation system, quality management, and improvement maintenance.
Who is an Aerospace Engineer?
“Aerospace/Aeronautical engineers design primarily aircraft, spacecraft, satellites, and missiles. In addition, they create and test prototypes to make sure that they function according to designs”.
How to become Aircraft Maintenance Engineer?
(a) The applicant shall not be less than 16 years of age and physically fit. (b) The applicant shall have passed 10+2 examination with Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics from a recognized Board (c) An applicant who passed their 3 years AICTE approved diploma in Aeronautical, Mechanical, Electrical, and Electronics engineering.
How can I get an Admission in AME?
For the admission in AME colleges in India and abroad, there is the procedure that student can follow: Students can first fulfill the eligibility criteria for the AME course. There is a direct Admission criterion. According to DGCA (Ministry of Civil Aviation) candidates can take direct admission to any organization which is approved for the AME training course. So, there is no need for any entrance examination.
Is there any Entrance Examination for AME Course?
No, there is no need to appear for any entrance exams. Moreover, DGCA (Ministry of Civil Aviation) who is the whole sole authority of Aviation in India doesn’t conduct any Entrance exam for the AME course.
Is there any Common Entrance Test(CET) to take admission for AME course in India?
No, there is no such exam for AME Course. According to DGCA you can directly join any organisation.
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