Why is it that International carriers prefer a more senior flying crew as opposed to Indian carriers where the average age is way less?

When it comes to recruitment of flying crew members, age is secondary to the amount of flying experience that they have. The type of Pilot license they hold is also a matter of consideration: Pilots with ATPL license are in demand for the position of commanders, ICAO licenses are acceptable at most of the places. Whereas airlines which operate in West look for FAA or JAAR licenses. It depends on the work location and the role that the airline is recruiting for. In case of Captains the requirements may go up to 5000 hrs and 2500 hrs on type. On the other hand when it comes to selection for the position of First Officers the amount of hours required are reduced to 2000. In case of international airlines, they look for experienced flying crew because usually in their countries the CPL license are issued after having flown for 1200 to 1500 hrs. As opposed to in India where we can obtain it at only 200hrs of flying. Hence, the age gap starts from the beginning itself.

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Hi, When it comes to international airlines, they prefer those who are experienced in that particular field. The reasons could be: (1) The international career is vast in network. To handle this networking only some experienced commanders are reliable, not the freshers, hence the demand for senior flying crew members are in great demand. Whereas in India, the network in not so vast (is under the condition of becoming large, as per IATA report, 2016), in that scenario, non-seniors can also handle that networking thus, Indian career hires these. (2) The average cost to pay for the senior flying crew member are much higher than juniors, using this present conditions as evidence, India still is not able to afford to pay such high remuneration (as in western Airlines), to their senior pilots hence they do select junior. Although the senior pilots are far better to handle the highly critical situations.

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Countries like the United States and other first world countries have a vast network of airports and aerodromes. General Aviation is so common in the States, that one in every few thousand people either own a small aircraft or have a Private Pilot's license. The people there usually take up flying as a hobby rather than like a career as we Indians do. They fly on the weekends and gradually get the 200 hours required for a CPL over a longer course as compared to a student flying at a flying schools. Later, a lot of these pilots secure a job in one of the several thousand charter companies there and other flying services and build their flying hours with those companies. As a result, the airlines there have a broader spectrum of options to choose from when hiring pilots. They can easily find experienced pilots rather than a pilot fresh out of flying school. Thus their overall crew is more senior than other third world countries. In Asian countries like India, General Aviation is almost invisible. Students graduating with commercial pilot licenses have very little option other than joining an Airline. Even the Airlines in India have to hire these young champions rather than hiring expat senior pilots and paying them 5 times the salary. This is a win situation for both the Pilots as well as the airlines. Now, having a lesser average age in no way means the pilot would be of inferior quality. All the pilots, whether young or experienced, undergo the same training and emergency drills and have to pass checks every six months until retirement. Even though airlines in India have a lot of young aces in their command, they are at par at handling the aircrafts as their international counterparts.

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Hello, All airlines whether domestic or international, require aircrew to fly airplanes. Normally an aircraft is flown by two pilots with one being the commander and the other designated as co-pilot. There is a regular process of training and having minimum hours flown on a particular type of aircraft before a co-pilot can think of becoming a commander. Now with the induction of more and more aircraft, the requirement of commanders also increases. Many airlines particularly international carriers then prefer to hire these licensed pilots as commanders rather than recruiting young pilots, then putting them through the grind of accumulating required hours of flying, training, and then obtaining the licence as commander. This whole business is costly. To save on costs, a senior flying crew is hired. In addition, a senior flying crew with many hours under his/her belt is sure to take care of emergencies in a better fashion than young pilots. These are some of the reasons.

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