Brief

Aviation: This is one of the career options which has been a dream of almost everyone in their childhood, but very few are lucky enough to pursue the same.

Aviation as a field has many types of career opportunities in it and here, we are going to talk about most of them.

The various career options in aviation are as follows:

  • Engineering (AME, Aerospace, Aeronautical, etc.)
  • BSc (Aviation, AME)
  • Defense (Indian Air Force)
  • Commercial Pilot and Flight Crew

Eligibility:

Subjects Requirement:

  • For Commercial Pilot, Flight Crew and BSc in Aviation: Mathematics, Physics and English in 10+2 or its equivalent.
  • For Engineering (AME, Aerospace and Aeronautical Engineering) and BSc in AME: Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics in 10+2 or its equivalent.
  • For Defense (Indian Air Force): Passed 12th Standard or equivalent from a recognized Board or University with Physics and Mathematics as subjects.

Qualifying Examination:

For all the above-mentioned aviation courses a student must have passed class 12th or its equivalent from a recognized board or university.

Age Limit:

For Pilot, BSc. Aviation: Minimum 17 years.

For Engineering (AME, Aerospace and Aeronautical Engineering), BSc. in AME: For AMECET- A candidate must be between 16 to 28 years of age.

For JEE Advanced: Maximum Age Limit is 25 years and for SC/ST and Person with Disabilities the upper age limit is relaxed to be 30 years.

Marks Requirement:

Any Special Eligibility:  For Defense (Indian Air Force) after 10+2 only unmarried male candidates can apply for the NDA NA Entrance Examination.

 

Courses Offered:

Engineering: B.E/B.Tech is offered in Aerospace and Aircraft Maintenance Engineering.

BSc. in Aviation or BSc. in Aircraft Maintenance Engineering

Pilot and Flight Crew: CPL, ATPL, PPL for Pilot and FATA, FDEG, FE, FN for Flight Crew.

Engineering:

Aircraft Maintenance Engineering: Aircraft Maintenance Engineers are technically skilled persons who are responsible for the maintenance of aircrafts who finally certify the aircraft to be airworthy for operational flying.

 

Aerospace/Aeronautical Engineering: Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is similar, but deals with the electronics side of aerospace engineering.

Pilot and Flight Crew:

This is the most fascinating career option which we feel everyone must be waiting to know about. Well one can become either a commercial pilot to become a civil aviation pilot or join the Indian Air Force to become a flying officer and become a defence pilot.

Indian Air Force:

To join the Indian Air Force one must give the NDA NA Entrance Examination.

The entry through NDA is open for Flying branch, Ground duty (tech) and Ground duty(non-tech). All cadets of Flying branch and Ground duty (tech) would be offered B Tech in NDA and cadets of Ground Duty (Non-tech) would be offered B Sc degree.

Commercial Pilot (Civil Aviation):

To become a commercial pilot in India one must get a commercial pilot license from a recognized flying school in India or from abroad. To join any Airlines as a Pilot in India one must get a Commercial Pilot License duly approved by the DGCA or Directorate General of Civil Aviation in India.

The process of becoming a pilot is as follows:

  • Get at least 55% marks in class 12th or its equivalent with Physics, Mathematics and English among the subjects.
  • Get your class 10th and class 12th mark sheets verified by your school board (eg: CBSE, ICSE, etc.)
  • Get Class 2 and Class 1 medical check-up done by the verified doctors for the same. One must be medically fit to become a pilot and must clear the Class 1 and Class 2 Medical Certificate in order to join any Flying School.
  • Enroll in a flying school via Entrance Examinations or any other route depending on the Flying school that you choose. Once you do that, complete at least 200 flying hours to obtain a CPL (Commercial Pilot License). Please Note: To obtain different types of Flying License there are different amounts of flying hours required and in some cases flying hours of flying a plane of particular specifications. One must therefore be very careful with this and obtain as much flying hours as possible and have complete knowledge of the type of flying hours required for the licence he/she wishes to obtain.
  • Clear the DGCA examination for obtaining the CPL, PPL or ATPL License under the Flight Crew category. The examinations conducted under the Flight crew category in the DGCA examination are FATA, FDEG, FE, FN & Pilot. CPL: Commercial Pilot License, PPL: Private Pilot License, ATPL: Air Transport Pilot License. To give you more brief about these read below to give you a clear understanding of these three:

PPL(A) – flying for pleasure.

CPL(A) – flying as a career track.

ATPL(A) – career as an airline pilot.

Tests for Flight Crew Licenses other than Pilot are as follows:

FE: Flight Engineer

FN: Flight Navigation

FDEG: Flight Dispatcher

FATA: Foreign Aircrew Temporary Authorization

 

In between these steps, there are several other steps also that one must complete, kindly go through the details of those steps while going through your course or applying to a flying school.

One must understand although becoming a civil pilot is a very fascinating career it is extremely expensive too to become a civil pilot as the course fees and the flying hours are very expensive.

**The average amount of fee one spends on an average to become a civil pilot in India is around 80 Lakhs to 1.5 crores depending on the flying school you get into and various other costs like training, flying hours, airlines training etc.

 

 

Major Flying Schools in India are as follows:

S.No.

Flying School Name

Official Website

1.

Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi

http://igrua.gov.in/Aboutus.htm

2.

CAE Gondia (NFTI)

https://www.cae.com/civil-aviation/locations/cae-gondia-nfti/

3.

Madhya Pradesh Flying Club

http://www.mpfc.in/

4.

Ahmedabad Aviation and Aeronautics Ltd.

http://www.aaa.co.in/

5.

The Bombay Flying Club

https://thebombayflyingclub.com/

6.

Chimes Aviation Academy

https://www.caaindia.com/

 

Important Entrance Exams:

  • AME CET:  Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Common Entrance Test or AME CET is the national level common entrance test conducted to offer admission for Aircraft Maintenance Engineering, Aerospace Engineering and Aeronautical Engineering courses in various approved institutes by required government bodies in India.

 

Courses offered from AME CET:

AME License (DGCA): Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Course is related to maintenance and repair of aircrafts. Candidate requires a lot of passion and skills to do the AME Course. Aircraft Maintenance Engineer may make repairs, troubleshoot problems, conduct inspections and make upgrades to aircrafts. Before the pilot takes off AME has to check the aircraft properly and sign the Certificate then only the flight can take off.

AME License (EASA): AME License (EASA) course is related to the maintenance and repair of aircraft. The candidate requires a lot of passion and skills to do the AME EASA Course. EASA is the European Aviation Safety Agency that deals with the rules and regulations of civil aviation. Aircraft Maintenance Engineer allows to repair, maintain, solve problems, conduct inspections, and make upgrades to aircraft. No aircraft can take off without approval from a licensed Aircraft Maintenance Engineer.

 

B Sc (AME): B Sc in Aircraft Maintenance Engineering is an undergraduate programme related to Aircraft Maintenance Engineering. In this course, the student will learn about the maintenance, repair, and solving the problems of an aircraft. AME is responsible for keeping the aircraft in airworthy condition. This degree deals with the safety and security of aircraft and its passengers.

B Sc in Aircraft Maintenance Engineering comprises theoretical and practical sessions by well qualified and experienced trainers. The practical session allows the student to learn the concept in a better way.

BE (AME): Aircraft Maintenance Engineering (BE Degree) is an undergraduate programme related to Aircraft Maintenance Engineering. In this course, the student will get knowledge about the aircraft and its components. They deal with maintenance, repair and troubleshooting when the issue occurs in an aircraft at the ground. AME is responsible for keeping the aircraft in airworthy condition. This allows dealing with the well-being and protection of aircraft and its passengers.

Aircraft Maintenance Engineering (BE Degree) comprises theoretical and practical sessions by the well qualified and experienced staff. Practical classes in labs and workshops allow the student to learn the concept in a better way.

BE/B.Tech (Aerospace Engineering): Aerospace Engineering is the branch of engineering that deals with the designing, testing, manufacturing, and constructing the aircraft, spacecraft, rockets, satellite, space shuttle, etc. Aerospace Engineering courses are often known as Rocket Science. Aerospace Engineering colleges in India are approved by AICTE, Govt. of India.

BE/B.Tech (Aeronautical Engineering): Aeronautical Engineering is one of the best undergraduate programs in aviation. Aeronautical Engineering is the study that involves researching, designing, constructing, testing, and manufacturing of the aircraft within Earth's atmosphere. It also covers the investigation into aerodynamic elements of aircraft, including behaviours and related factors such as control surfaces, lift, airfoil, and drag.

           Read more about the examination here: AME CET

  • JEE Advanced: This examination is conducted for admissions in the various B.Tech, BSc Dual Degree B.Tech- M.Tech etc courses in the various IITs or Indian Institute of Technology and its score is also used by various institutes of national importance for admissions into their various engineering and science courses.

When we talk about aviation courses there are at present 4 IITs in India that provide B.Tech or Bachelor of Technology in Aerospace or Aeronautical Engineering and the admissions in these courses are via JEE Advanced.

 

These 4 IITs and the courses that they offer in aviation are as follows:

S.No.

College Name

Aviation Courses Offered

1.

IIT, Madras

B.Tech and Dual Degree - 5 year Integrated B.Tech and M.Tech in Aerospace Engineering

2.

IIT, Bombay

B.Tech and Dual Degree - 5 year Integrated B.Tech and M.Tech in Aerospace Engineering

3.

IIT, Kanpur

B.Tech and Dual Degree - 5 year Integrated B.Tech and M.Tech in Aerospace Engineering

4.

IIT, Kharagpur

B.Tech and Dual Degree - 5 year Integrated B.Tech and M.Tech in Aerospace Engineering

 

Apart from the 4 IITs- The Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), Thiruvananthapuram which is under ISRO or Indian Space Research Organization also offers admissions via JEE Advanced in its 4-year B.Tech course in Aerospace Engineering.

  • IGRUA Entrance Examination: Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi Entrance Examination or IGRUA Entrance Examination is conducted for the following courses:

Ab-initio to Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) coupled with Instrument and Multi-Engine Endorsement along with an option for BSc (Aviation) degree.

Read more about the examination here: IGRUA Entrance Examination

  • NDA NA Entrance Examination:

The National Defense Academy and Naval Academy Entrance Examination or NDA NA is conducted for the 10+2 or its equivalent appearing and passed students to join the Defense Forces of our country (Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force).

Since we are talking only about aviation so we are only discussing joining the Indian Air Force after 10+2.

The valiant boys could be part of the Indian Air Force family by applying for NDA( National Defence Academy)

Candidates, short-listed for Indian Air Force after the initial selection procedure, go through a rigorous three-year training regimen at the National Defence Academy at Khadakwasla, followed by specialised training at one of the training establishments. Thereafter, they are Commissioned as Permanent Commission Officers and posted as officers at any of the Air Force Stations.

Read more about the examination here: NDA NA Entrance Examination

 

Important Links:

http://igrua.gov.in/Aboutus.htm

https://www.amecet.in/

https://jeeadv.ac.in/

https://pariksha.dgca.gov.in/welcome.jsp

https://www.cae.com/civil-aviation/locations/cae-gondia-nfti/

http://www.mpfc.in/

http://www.aaa.co.in/

https://thebombayflyingclub.com/

https://www.caaindia.com/

 

** Disclaimer: The above information is based upon our own research done through official websites and other sources. There can be mistakes in the information provided above as the procedures for college admissions and entrance examinations keep changing, although we try our best to keep this page regularly updated as much as possible.

 

** In case you find any information above to be incorrect, or have any feedback or suggestions for us or you need any guidance for the course above or any other course kindly write to us at [email protected].

 

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