Wednesday, November 16 2005 19:23 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: In a bid to overcome shortage of pilots in the face of heightened aviation activity in the country, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is considering raising the retirement age for professional pilots to beyond 61 years.

"There is a shortage of trained pilots and a number of foreign pilots are being deployed by various airlines. We would like to see that increased aviation activity is not affected by this (shortage)," Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told reporters here.

He said the DGCA was working on further raising the superannuation age to beyond 61 years, especially for the commanders. "You will get more than 100 commanders if the age limit is raised".

DGCA would "shortly" come out with guidelines raising the age limit, Patel said, adding that the Ministry had already given its approval to the proposal.

There is a shortage of between 150 and 180 pilots in the two public sector carriers, Air-India and Indian Airlines. The new as well as old private carriers have employed large number of foreign pilots as commanders to overcome the shortage.

The DGCA had, this March, issued a notification increasing the retirement age to 61 years from 60, amending the earlier stipulation in the Aircraft Rules, 1937.

In India, the Commercial Pilots Licence is granted after 250 hours of flying, whereas the international standard is only 200 hours.