India’s largest flight school looks at reducing pilot training costs through economies of scale

India’s largest flying school, RedBird Flight Training Academy is looking at investing $6 million in ramping up training infrastructure to keep up with the growing demand for pilots in the world’s fastest-growing aviation market over the next five years.

“We have today a budget of nearly $6 million which we have kept aside. This is our money, excluding any external financing that we may be raising from banks or other financial institutions,” chairman of Tenon Group, the parent company of RedBird, Maj. (Retd) Manjit Rajain told Business Today in an interview.

The company which currently has a fleet of 40 aircraft and six flight training schools in India and one in Sri Lanka is confident of significantly expanding its infrastructure by the end of FY24.

“By the end of this fiscal, we will likely have a fleet of more than 60 planes operating from at least 10 airports,” said Rajain.

Claiming the cost of training with RedBird was 30 per cent cheaper than if a cadet went overseas, he said they were hopeful of the course fees reducing further with the growth in the company’s scale of operations.

“We are proud to state that we are economical. Today, we are also the largest [flight training school] in Asia on every parameter, be it the number of planes, instructors and students trained.”

In pursuit of scale, RedBird Flight Training Academy recently inked a joint venture agreement with Aviation Safety & Training, a subsidiary of Singapore-based HAITE Group, to establish a comprehensive cadet training programme.

The agreement will enable aspiring pilots to complete their Commercial Pilot License (CPL) training before transitioning smoothly for advanced-type rating training under the supervision of experts at Aviation Safety & Training centre in Singapore.

Calling the JV, a ‘match made in heaven’, Rajain said that the JV would allow the two companies to complement each other.

“We were already doing 80 per cent of the [pilot training] while missing out on the balance 20 per cent [advance type certification]. These guys didn’t have the capability of doing the first part because the airport infrastructure and airspace in Singapore are limited. Therefore, the agreement is a good fit for both sides,” he observed.

In view of the mega-aircraft orders placed by Indian carriers such as Air India and IndiGo, the country may require 31,000 pilots over the next two decades, a Boeing estimate has said.

JV with Aviation Safety & Training

RedBird has 36 Technam and four Cessna aircraft, all under three years old. And all things being equal, it is already looking at introducing simulator training in India by next year in a bid to introduce more training devices in the country through the JV.

The company is also looking at substantially reducing the time spent by cadets in getting a CPL.

“Students go abroad because it takes them years to get certified here. There are students who have been flying for five years and that’s crazy! On the other hand, Red Bird is churning out people of the highest quality and standards in record time,” director of corporate affairs at RedBird Flight Training Academy, Parvez Damania told BT.

For its part, Aviation Safety & Training said they are well positioned to meet the requirements of a rapidly growing market like India.

“The HAITE centre in Singapore houses both Airbus and Boeing simulators. If there is a requirement for more, it’s very easy for us to get new simulators. Besides, Singapore is a tourist-friendly country and students find it easy to get a visa,” said general manager Aviation Safety & Training, Peter Zhao Shi Shan.

Currently, there are 36 Flying Training Organisations (FTOs) or flight schools in India operating at 57 bases, according to data from the Ministry of Civil Aviation. In the year 2022, aviation regulator the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued a record 1,165 Commercial Pilot Licenses (CPLs) to cater to the requirement of the industry.