New Delhi: India has 25,001 pilots under the age of 65 who have valid flying licences, the government told the Lok Sabha on Thursday. However, it clarified that no centralized data is maintained on how many commercial or airline pilots are currently unemployed or not in active service.
According to the data, the country has 10,051 Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL) holders for airplanes and 210 for helicopters.In a written reply to a question by Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Sharmila Sarkar, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Muralidhar Mohal provided department-wise details of licenses issued by the civil aviation regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
According to the data, the country has 10,051 Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL) holders for airplanes and 210 for helicopters. The largest group consists of commercial pilot license (CPL) holders, 12,480 plane CPL holders and 777 helicopter CPL holders. In addition, 1,483 pilots hold Private Pilot License (PPL).
Responding to a query on the number of CPL and ATPL holders who are unemployed or not in active service, the minister said, “No such details of unemployment of pilots holding Commercial Pilot License (CPL) or Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL) are maintained.”
The reply also included year-on-year data on ATPLs issued since 2014.
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A total of 6,775 ATPLs were issued between 2014 and 2025. The number peaked at 752 in 2019 but fell to 398 in 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic. They, however, recovered in subsequent years, with 720 ATPLs granted in 2022 and 646 in 2025.
The information comes at a time when Indian airlines are expanding their fleets and ordering larger aircraft amid ongoing discussions about pilot availability and crew planning norms.
