13,989 pilots employed by six major domestic airlines: Govt

Six major domestic airlines employ 13,989 pilots, including Air India and its low-cost arm Air India Express with 6,350 and 1,592 pilots respectively and IndiGo with 5,085 cockpit crew, Parliament was informed on Monday, December 8, 2025.

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The number of pilots at Akasa is 466 and at SpiceJet is 385, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said in his written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha.

He added that government-run Alliance Air employs 111 pilots.

The minister said the employment rate among qualified pilots depends on market forces.

He said the rationale behind airlines hiring foreign pilots was the need for a particular type of rating pilot in light of fleet expansions and time-bound operational requirements, among others.

Mr. Mohol also said that flight training organizations (FTOs) are constantly improving their aircraft fleets by regularly training them.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has enabled the induction of 61 training aircraft by FTOs by November, he said, adding that the civil aviation regulator has approved two FTOs in 2025.

As of November 2025, India has 40 FTOs operating in 62 bases, Mohol said.

He said that the modernization of the flight training infrastructure is market dependent and is being carried out on the basis of the commercial thinking of FTOs, adding that the civil aviation ministry does not currently have any intervention in this regard.

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“However, as India is a member of ICAO, DGCA aligns its training and regulatory framework with ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs). DGCA regularly assesses the quality and adequacy of flight training through the robust regulatory framework,” Mr. Mohol said.

The Minister said that safety standards are constantly reviewed during the surveillance of these FTOs as per the DGCA’s published Annual Surveillance Plan. He added that special security inspections and on-site checks are also carried out when necessary.