| Monday, November 26, 2007
Aviation education, need of the hour
- “We need quality-oriented specialised
training of international standards and requirements, backed
by university affiliation and aviation industry, to equip
the youth with competitive edge.”
It is estimated that by 2020 the number of commercial aircraft
operations in India may increase to over 2,000 from the present
300. Such an exponential growth certainly offers a formidable
challenge to our planners, airport operators, providers of air
traffic control system/ air navigation system, regulatory authorities
and aviation support services as a whole.
Aviation being truly an international business, this industry
cannot be seen in the Indian context alone. Indian traffic growth
therefore will be further influenced by the regional and global
growth and it should be addressed in that perspective.
In 2006, the global air traffic recorded a growth rate of 6.8
per cent; the Asia Pacific region 9.75 per cent due to strong
growth in China and India, and the Middle East 8.6 per cent.
If this growth continues, the Asia Pacific region could overtake
North America in about 10 years.
Indian passenger growth has been well over 20 per cent in the
last few years and may well go beyond 30 per cent for a while.
What is adding to this growth is the regional growth in the
Middle East, South East Asia and Asia Pacific as a whole.
China Civil Aviation Authority claims that it will have an additional
44 new airports by 2010 and its fleet will increase to 1,580
by 2010 from 863 (2006). Beijing Terminal 3 is being upgraded
at an estimated cost of $ 2 billion, outdoing Hong Kong and
Heathrow-London airports. Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos are poised
to grow at an average annual rate of 7-8 per cent.
Dubai World Central Airport (Jabal Ali) which is scheduled to
open in 2008 is a 110-million passenger airport, one of the
biggest in the world. Both the UAE national carriers, Emirates
Airline and Etihad Airways, are growing at a rapid rate to become
world leaders. Qatar Airways too is rapidly growing. Such rapid
regional aviation growth also provides an additional job opportunity
for India.
In the global economy, every $ 100 of output and every 100 jobs
generated by air transport trigger an additional demand of jobs
in other industries. The aviation growth therefore will create
millions of jobs due to multiplier effect and that too within
a short period
Availability of specific managerial skills can make all the
difference between future and failure. To take advantage of
this boom, we have to accelerate the pace of our aviation education/
training by immediate opening up of world class institutions
to train our youth to handle all facets of aviation —
pilots, aircraft maintenance engineers, ground crew, cabin crew,
airline/ airport managers, airline/ airport finance managers,
airline/ airport marketing managers, aero-political managers,
flight safety managers, flight dispatchers, freight forwarders,
ground handlers, specialist vehicle drivers, airport planners,
air traffic controllers, air navigation services engineers,
crash and fire and rescue staff, air transport economists, special
officers for the regulatory bodies/ DGCA, aviation security
officers, airport advertisers, aviation correspondents, environmentalists
and aviation support services related cadres.
What we need to ensure is not just mushrooming of training institutions
but quality-oriented specialised training of international standards
and requirements, backed by university affiliation and aviation
industry, to equip the youth with competitive edge.
We have to move very fast to bridge the gap between demand and
supply.
Courtesy: The Hindu - Education Plus
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