How to Become a Pilot in India After 12th, Eligibility Criteria and Salary

The job of a pilot of the most demanding career option after the 12th. Most of the students want to opt for this. But is not easy to become a pilot. Here in this article, I am sharing with you the complete details about the How to become a Pilot in India after the 12th. To get detailed information like Selection Process, Eligibility criteria required and age limit criteria, etc. Check the article below to get complete information about this.

There are many ways to become a pilot in India. One can become a commercial pilot, fighter pilot, a pilot in the Indian Armed forces as a cargo pilot, or even be a Fighter helicopter pilot or Helicopter pilot. Here we will see the details to become a pilot in India either its defence or commercial pilot etc. Let’s discuss it one by one.

Visit- How to Become an Air Hostess in India

Table of Content

Ways to Become a Pilot in India:

This is a dream job of many students but due to lack of knowledge about this, most of the students left this as a career option and choose another field. In order to become a pilot in India, there are basically two options:

Indian Armed forces
Commercial Pilot etc

If any students have an aim of joining defence either Indian Air force, Indian Army or Indian Navy etc. One can join the service as a Fighter Pilot or as a cargo pilot. The procedure is completely different for the Indian Armed forces and Commercial Pilot. The requirement of eligibility criteria is also very different. It is tough to become a pilot in the Indian Armed forces as compared to the commercial pilot. Let’s see both ways to become a pilot in India.

How to Become a Pilot in Indian Armed Forces:

To become a Pilot in the Indian Armed forces, One will need to appear for the Written Exam, SSB (Service Selection Board) Interview and Medical examination which is strictly conducted at the Military Hospitals. Right after passing class 12th, one can appear for the NDA Entry to become a pilot in the Indian Armed forces. To apply for the NDA Entry, One needs to have the following eligibility criteria which are mandatory to have to apply for this:

One must have passed class 12th with Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics.
A candidate who is appearing in class 12th is also eligible to apply for this.
There are no marks criteria that have been set to apply for NDA, One just needs to be pass class 12th.
One must not be older than 19 years old and should not be less than 16.5 years old. Age must be between 16.5 years old to 19 years old.
There is no relaxation has been given in age to any candidates on the basis of their caste, community or religion. It will be completely the same for all.
The height of the candidate should not be less than 167cm. There is some relaxation in height for the candidates who belong to the northern-eastern regions.
One must be physically and medically fit in all manner. A minor problem in medical or physical can be the reason for rejection.
The Medical exam of defence for a pilot is extremely tough. Students who have an aim of becoming a pilot in the Indian Armed Forces must be fit and sound.

After the selection in National Defence Academy, One will get trained for three years. After this, one is free to choose any wings as per their interest. One can choose Army, Airforce or Navy, etc and choose the flying branch if wanna be a pilot. All the expenses of your training will be covered by the Government and during your training, you will also be getting some amount as a stipend. To become a Pilot in Defense, You just need to clear the exam and nothing else. Well, It is needed not to be mentioned here the works fighter pilot. You may be already aware that they are the guardian of the Indian Sky and responsible for the security of Indian Airspace.

But to become a commercial pilot, things are completely different. There is no such requirement for a Written Exam or SSB Interview etc. The Medical exam is mandatory in all to become a pilot. Let’s see the complete details of How to become a Commercial Pilot in India.

How to Become Commercial Pilot in India:

To become Commercial Pilot in India. There is no particular academy or examination. One just needs to clear PABT (Pilot Aptitude Battery Test). The commercial pilot is basically a passenger pilot. Airlines only recruit the pilot, they do not provide any training for a candidate for this. To become Commercial Pilot, You can join any flying school in India or abroad and get proper training. All the expenses of the training will be paid by the candidate itself.

The cost of becoming a commercial pilot can be somewhere between 25 lakhs to 60 lakhs or even more depending upon the type of flying school you are in and the type of aircraft you are using for your training. One will need to complete at least 200 hours of flying to get a commercial pilot license. Once you get a license, you can apply for a job in the airlines like Indigo, AirIndia, and other airlines.

The hardest part of the commercial pilot is that there is no job guarantee after the completion of your training. You will need to find a job by yourself. After spending a huge amount on your training, there is still a requirement for some more money. If you get selected by any airline, You will again need to pay around 12 lakhs to 20 lakhs to get training on the particular aircraft that you are about to fly in the particular airlines. The total costs of becoming a commercial pilot in India can be somewhere between 80 lakhs to 1 cr to reach the cockpit.

There are many airlines that offer the Cadet Pilot Program under which they give you a job guarantee after the completion of the training. Some famous Cadet’s Pilot Programs are Indigo Pilot Programs, Air Asia Cadet pilot program. But the cost of joining Cadet’s Pilot Program of any airline is more than 1 cr. You can check the details on their official websites. Now let’s see the required eligibility criteria which is mandatory to have to apply for admission in the commercial pilot training schools.

Eligibility Criteria for Commercial Pilot After 12th:

One must be passed class 12th with Physics and Mathematics.
If you have passed class 12th in any other stream, you have the option of NIOS (National Institute of Open Schooling) to get your 12th done with Science Stream.
The Minimum age to apply for a commercial pilot in India is 17 years old. There is n maximum age barrier has been set to apply for admission in the Flying School. Well, You must check the Official website of DGCA (Director General of Civil Aviation) to get exact details about this.
Before taking admission in the commercial pilot school, one will need to appear for Class II and Class I Medical Examination. With Class II medical Examination, one can get training of commercial pilot but to get CPL (Commercial Pilot License), It is mandatory to have done your class I Medical.
There is no such requirement of height. One just needs to have standard heights.

There are many Government as well as Private flying schools are there that are known for giving proper training for the commercial pilot. There is no such difference is fees. The Fees of Government flying schools as well as Private schools are a bit similar. There are some Government Scholarship exam through which you may get around 15% to 20% relaxation in fees.

Best Flying Schools in India:

There are many flying schools in India. I can not mention the name of any private schools here. But some best Government Schools are the following:

Well, I am promoting any flying school here. All the names I have shared are on the basis of the research. Before joining any Institute, you must do proper research about their type os training Campus and placement criteria and rate etc.

Salary of Pilots in India:

The Salary of Indian Armed force’s Pilot are different and Commercial Pilots are different. In the Indian Armed forces, One gets around 55,000/- per month to 95,000/-or even more with perks, allowances and other benefits of working in Indian Armed forces.

The commercial pilot salary in India can be somewhere between 1,40,000/- per months to 7,00,000/- per months depending upon the type of airline you are flying with and years of experience you have etc. This was all about How to become a pilot in India after 12th. I Hope you got the answer for this.

FAQs For How to Become a Pilot in India After 12th

How to become Pilot in India?

One can become pilot in Indian Armed forces or can become a Commercial Pilot. Both has different procedure. Check the article to understand better.

How to become a pilot in India after 12th science?

After class 12th with Science, One can apply for NDA entry to become a pilot in the Indian Armed Forces or can go for the Commercial Pilot Training to become an Airline Pilot.

How can a Girl become Pilot after 12th?

After 12th with Science, A girl can go for commercial Pilot training. To become a pilot in Indian Armed Forces, One will need to complete graduation in any stream. After this, One can appear for CDS (Combined Defense Service Examination), AFCAT (Air Force Common Admission Test ) etc.