Aviation job market set to take off in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Airlines might be on a cost-cutting binge but not everyone connected with skies is going to lose jobs! In fact, the skies are literally opening up with huge job opportunities for skilled technicians.

With the country's first foreign-owned airport maintenance facility to take off from the third quarter of next year in the city, the stage is set for a massive recruitment of 1,500 to 2,000 engineering graduates and diploma holders in the coming days. This is because Malaysia Airlines and GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL), who had entered into an MoU in August this year for setting up a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, are now ready to spread their wings even further.
"The proposed MRO centre will handle all types of aircraft from light jets to A-380. Already 70 engineers are getting trained in Malaysia. We'll recruit at least 300 more in our initial recruitment phase and a total of 1500 to 2000 when operations start full swing," says A Vishwanath, chief commercial officer of GHIAL. Sources reveal salaries for fresh engineering graduates might be between Rs 20,000-25,000 post training and between Rs 10,000-15,000 for diploma holders.
Despite unfavourable market conditions in the airlines industry, the Indian MRO sector (estimated at $800 million) is being taken seriously.
Earlier this year, Ernst & Young stated the Indian aviation sector was slated to draw an investment of over $120 billion by 2020. With the government allowing 100 per cent foreign direct investment in MRO facilities, analysts expect large investments to flow into this sector. "India is a key geographical hub and lower labour costs are spurring the growth of the industry. Not just in Hyderabad, Air India and Boeing are reported to be negotiating the equity structure of the proposed MRO joint venture in Nagpur too," adds Arora of KPMG.
30/10/08 Debasmita Ghosh/Times of India