sudhir007
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Poorly paid, but test pilots love their job - The Times of India
The challenge of the job, not the money, keeps them going. Air Force pilots, who aren't paid anywhere close to what commercial pilots earn, say the challenge of testing, flying and certifying an aircraft keeps them hooked to the force and the project. In this case, there was national pride in the indigenously-developed LCA.
Pilots with long experience of flying combat aircraft and the LCA told TOI: "It's purely the challenge of delivering an indigenous aircraft to the country that keeps us motivated. We are aware that we aren't paid what commercial pilots are. But we stick on for flight testing jobs because we are highly motivated we know and understand how difficult it is to design and build an aircraft on our own. We'd love to be part of such a dream you don't get that pleasure elsewhere."
The pilots said they are paid as per the Sixth Pay Commission, which is better than their prior pay package, but is still way below commercial salaries. If a young defence pilot earns around Rs 25,000-Rs 40,000 depending on grade, and a senior pilot earns around Rs 1 lakh and more, a commercial pilot gets Rs 2-Rs 5 lakh, and in some cases, even Rs 10 lakh this despite the fact that the skills of an Air Force test pilot are as good, as if not superior.
Test pilots said there is a big team behind the project. "There are hundreds of unknown people who have worked hard all these 20 years to bring the aircraft to this stage. It can't be done by just eight to 10 people. They are all paid public sector salaries, again while good, not comparable to IT salaries. They stick around purely because they are designing and developing brand new technologies that India has never done before."
The challenge of the job, not the money, keeps them going. Air Force pilots, who aren't paid anywhere close to what commercial pilots earn, say the challenge of testing, flying and certifying an aircraft keeps them hooked to the force and the project. In this case, there was national pride in the indigenously-developed LCA.
Pilots with long experience of flying combat aircraft and the LCA told TOI: "It's purely the challenge of delivering an indigenous aircraft to the country that keeps us motivated. We are aware that we aren't paid what commercial pilots are. But we stick on for flight testing jobs because we are highly motivated we know and understand how difficult it is to design and build an aircraft on our own. We'd love to be part of such a dream you don't get that pleasure elsewhere."
The pilots said they are paid as per the Sixth Pay Commission, which is better than their prior pay package, but is still way below commercial salaries. If a young defence pilot earns around Rs 25,000-Rs 40,000 depending on grade, and a senior pilot earns around Rs 1 lakh and more, a commercial pilot gets Rs 2-Rs 5 lakh, and in some cases, even Rs 10 lakh this despite the fact that the skills of an Air Force test pilot are as good, as if not superior.
Test pilots said there is a big team behind the project. "There are hundreds of unknown people who have worked hard all these 20 years to bring the aircraft to this stage. It can't be done by just eight to 10 people. They are all paid public sector salaries, again while good, not comparable to IT salaries. They stick around purely because they are designing and developing brand new technologies that India has never done before."
