Here is a snippet from TT’s front-page story yesterday:
Next time Ratan Tata wants to land in Bengal, he can take off from his group’s private helipad atop a luxury apartment hotel in Colaba, fly over the traffic chaos of Mumbai and board one of his jets at the airport.
The article informs that DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) has approved the Tata helipad atop 12-storey Taj Wellington Mews for private use. It is estimated that if the government enforces changed regulations for helicopters, the number of choppers presently in use for civil purpose would jump from 191 to at least 4,000 in just 5 years.
This explains there is a pent-up demand for chopper use among increasing number of those who can afford one or more. The demand story is a mirror reflection of surge in air travel by average Indians that is unleashed by cheap fares and competition among number of players vying for a piece of action.
It’s not a surprise then that many aviation-related institutes have come up in big cities that churn out trained manpower for the sector. One such is Frankfinn Institute of Air Hostess Training, which already has 5 branches in the state – Camac Street, Gariahat, Salt Lake, Barrackpore and Bardhaman. [Image source]
Started in 1993 by KS Kohli, a Supreme Court advocate, Frankfinn produces airhostesses and flight stewards, and the 1-year part-time course it offers is called BTEC (HNC) in aviation, hospitality and travel management. The qualification at the end of the course is awarded by Edexcel of UK.
The institute maintains that it has produced more professionals than all such academies in India put together. Perhaps. But there are other institutes as well like Flying Cats at AJC Bose Road that too offers 1-year Annamalai University diploma in Air Hostess Training & Ground Handling.
The aviation sector looks extremely promising for creation of base-level jobs just like hotel, hospitality, tourism, and retail sectors. The good news is Bengali youngsters do not hesitate any longer taking up jobs that may not be flashy but do offer handsome earnings.
Related reading: Aviation Institutes
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