The inability of India's flight training system to generate the required numbers is encapsulated in (and symbolized by) this anonymous flight cadet's statement: “I went to a flying school in Baramati. But there were 120 students undergoing training with just nine aircrafts. At that rate, I would have had to wait for a year or more to complete my flying. Most of the flying schools in India resort to malpractices. Some resort to proxy server, a system whereby the students fly for ten minutes and record in their log that they have flown for an hour; this happens with the full knowledge of the instructors.”

The numbers speak for themselves. There are presently employment positions for 5,200 pilots, but only 4,100 Indian pilots and 560 expatriates are available. That 5,200 number is growing apace as aircraft deliveries are fulfilled, but the training system's output has stalled in terms of both quality and quantity. It takes the Indian system 2.5 years to churn out an MPL "qualified" pilot yet elsewhere that figure is down to eight months. Training abroad is seen as a part solution, but an expensive one. The Indian DGCA knows that it has a problem on its hands that will come back to bite it in years to come. However its attempts to provoke change must apparently await the embedded crisis, where aircraft are being parked in mass numbers and flights cancelled. Of India's 35 flying schools, 17 are presently dysfunctional due to lack of instructors, shortage of aircraft, airspace restrictions and large numbers of students. Instructors are legging it to the airlines as soon as they have the minimal qualifications. The future effect on air safety can only be imagined at this juncture.