India: Air-traffic controller shortage alarms aviation pros

India has just plowed $50m in a new 102m air-traffic control tower in New Delhi. Now comes the hard part: finding qualified flight controllers to operate it. Designed by HOK, the same firm that drafted Apple Inc.’s research headquarters in California, the tower will be operational in about six months. Yet, it may struggle to handle more flights without enough controllers, according to aviation officials. The nation’s busiest airport needs 600 of the technicians ideally for stable operations, but employs only 360, the officials say. The world’s fastest-growing major aviation market is grappling with a paucity of traffic controllers to meet growing demand, as many of them shun employment with the state-run Airports Authority of India, where starting monthly salaries can be as low as $250, and choose monetarily rewarding jobs with private airlines. About a third of India’s planned air-traffic controller positions are vacant, the government said last year. The shortfall has meant existing ATCs are overworked. “It is a huge safety hazard,” said Mohan Ranganathan, a former commercial pilot and an independent aviation safety consultant based in the southern Indian city of Chennai. “The air traffic controllers are being flogged in violation of fatigue rules.” The dearth of talent in the world’s second-most populous country is threatening to reach crisis proportions as a slew of budget carriers unveil plans to add hundreds of aircraft to cater to the travel boom fueled by rising incomes and lower fares. Adding to the challenge is PM Narendra Modi’s ambitious programs to connect smaller towns and villages by air.<br/>