India may require 31,000 pilots in next 20 years: Boeing

US aircraft maker Boeing has said India may require 31,000 pilots and some 26,000 mechanics over the next 20 years amid the growing order book of the aircraft original equipment manufacturers. Boeing India President Salil Gupte also said the South Asian region is expected to remain the fastest-growing market globally over the next several years. Courage of the government to go forward and privatize Air India and Tata Group to take up the airlines will transform the Indian aerospace industry, he said. “India is going to need over 31,000 pilots and 26,000 mechanics over the next 20 years to take care of the aircraft coming in. This is as important a part of the Indian growth story as the aircraft (orders),” Gupte told reporters. He said considering India’s air traffic growth, a lot of focus has to be on making infrastructure robust, both hard infrastructure which includes airports as well as critical infrastructure, which includes pilots, among others.<br/>