Flying schools | Fixing pilot trainers

India wants its flying schools to train the pilots needed for a rapidly expanding aviation industry. But the new rankings by aviation regulator DGCA are already being questioned by unhappy flying academiesCOCKPIT CLASS: A cadet being trained at Pioneer Flying Academy in Aligarh (Photograph by Chandradeep Kumar)ISSUE DATE: Oct 12, 2026 | Oct 2, 2026 17:21 IST Pilots in India have recently been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, the latest example being the Air India pilot who tested positive for drugs following a severe mid-air crisis on a Phuket-Delhi flight in early August. India is also projected to need 30,000-40,000 new pilots over the next decade. And the government wants these pilots to ‘Train in India, Fly in India’ as well.