India's strong economic growth has boosted the market for air travel. Flying has become more affordable in India, where the number of people traveling by air in a year is nearly equal to the number of people traveling by train on a day. India recorded a 25% growth in air passenger traffic in last year alone. There are six to seven million air passengers in the country, and industry watchers say their numbers could easily rise nearly tenfold in five years. 

This has meant a revival in the entire tourism and aviation industries, with increasing job opportunities for trained flying professionals not only with domestic airlines, but also with international ones. Civil aviation sector witnessing rapid expansion, leading to considerable shortage of trained pilots.

Of all the jobs in aviation, that of the pilot is possibly the most critical, and therefore, the most sought after. This isn't only because of the huge salaries pilots earn, but also due to the sheer excitement of controlling a machine that soars like a bird in the sky. 

Aviation is a sought after career for women as well, particularly in the area of flying. Besides the traditional air hostess' role, it is as pilots that a large number of women have already made their presence felt. 

The unfolding aviation scenario is something like this: 

Air India has ordered 18 Boeing 737 aircrafts. and is likely to require close to 150 pilots, Kingfisher Airlines has ordered 28 Airbus aircrafts. and would require about 140 pilots, while Spice Jet has ordered 20 aircrafts. and therefore its requirement is likely to be of close to 100 pilots. Air Deccan, with 200 pilots on its rolls, hopes to add more than 600 pilots over the next five years. At present there are said to be about 2000 licensed pilots in India, with nearly half of them being employed by the airlines operating regular flights. And it is estimated that about 4000-5000 pilots are needed within five years. This is just an illustrative scenario as other airlines have also drawn up huge expansion plans. 

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