A Commercial Aircraft Pilot is a highly skilled professional who flies airplanes or helicopters for business purposes, which may include transportation of passengers or cargo, traffic monitoring, emergency rescue, and evacuation operations, aircraft testing, firefighting, and crop dusting. Usually, commercial airlines appoint at least two persons as pilot crew, i.e. a Capitan and the First Officer or Co-Pilot.
Educational Qualification
To be eligible for becoming a commercial pilot in India, Students should have 10+2 with Physics and Mathematics as subjects and preferably 50% marks in aggregate at the secondary school level.
Age Limits to becoming Commercial Pilot
AT least 16 years for Students Pilot License (SLP) & 17 years for Commercial Pilots Licence
Physical Standards
Contrary to popular belief, one does not need perfect health or perfect eyesight to become a Commercial Pilot. However, General physical fitness is mandatory. One must be free of any disease that can hamper normal function. Your vision in one eye must be perfect. In general medical terminology, it is called 6/6 eyesight. In the other eye, you could have an imperfection of 6/9, which must be correctable to 6/6. As long as one’s eyesight can be corrected to near normal then he can hold the Commercial Pilot licence.
However, the above given one or more conditions can vary to some extent with the institute and state/country.
For commercial Pilot Training one has to follow the steps given below:
Step 1
To become a commercial pilot in India, one has to first possess a Student Pilot License (SPL). To get the SPL, the eligible candidate has to register at a flying club which is recognized by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Government of India.
How to register with a flying club?
Registration requires a medical certificate, security clearance and a bank guarantee. An oral (written too in some institutions) examination in subjects such as Air Regulations, Aviation Meteorology, Air Navigation, Engine (technical and specific) follows the registration. Successful completion of the examination entitles you for an SPL certificate.
Step 2
The second step is the Private Pilot License (PPL). PPL training includes sixty hours of flying of which about fifteen hours are dual flights, that is accompanied by the flight instructor, and at least 30 hours of solo flights apart from five hours of cross-country flying. This makes one eligible for the PPL exam, which consists of Air Regulation, Aviation Meteorology, Air Navigation, Aircraft Engines, and Seamanship. The prescribed age for appearing for this exam is 17 years and educational qualification of 10+2 along with a Medical Fitness Certificate issued by the Armed Forces Central Medical Establishment (AFCME).
Step 3
A Commercial Pilot Licence may be obtained only after a PPL has been acquired. To obtain a Commercial Pilots License (CPL) 250 hours of flying (including 60 hours for the PPL) is necessary. Besides that, one has to undergo a Medical Fitness Test which is held at New Delhi. He also needs to appear in an examination which consists of Air Regulations, Aviation Meteorology, Air Navigation, Technical, Planning, and communications in the form of Radio & Wireless Transmission. With the CPL, a pilot can take up any professional assignment. To reach this stage i.e. to acquire a CPL, it takes nearly 9 months to 1 year time
By getting a CPL one can start as a Trainee/Co-Pilot then as Pilot or First Officer onboard based on one's seniority, determined flying experience and successful completion of various programs. After this one is eligible to become a Commander or Captain and thereafter a Senior Commander.
Commercial Pilot Salary in India
An entry-level Commercial Pilot with less than 1-year of experience can expect to earn an average total compensation (includes tips, bonus, and overtime pay) of ₹1,526,047 based on 25 salaries. An early career Commercial Pilot with 1-4 years of experience earns an average total compensation of ₹1,671,059 based on 68 salaries. A mid-career Commercial Pilot with 5-9 years of experience earns an average total compensation of ₹1,729,520 based on 30 salaries. An experienced Commercial Pilot with 10-19 years of experience earns an average total compensation of ₹2,456,588 based on 24 salaries. In their late-career (20 years and higher), employees earn an average total compensation of ₹5,000,000.
Source - https://www.payscale.com/