13,989 pilots employed by 6 major domestic airlines: Govt
Mumbai (PTI): Six major domestic airlines have employed 13,989 pilots, with Air India and its low-cost arm, Air India Express, having 6,350 and 1,592 pilots respectively and IndiGo having 5,085 cockpit crew, Parliament was informed on Monday.
The number of pilots at Akasa is 466 and at SpiceJet, it is 385, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.
The government-run Alliance Air has employed 111 pilots, he added.
The minister said the rate of employment among qualified pilots is dependent on market forces.
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He said the rationale behind airlines hiring foreign pilots, inter alia, is the requirement of a specific type-rated pilot in light of fleet expansions and time-bound operational requirements.
Mohol also said the flying training organisations (FTOs) are continuously upgrading their aircraft fleet by regularly inducting training aircraft fleets.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has facilitated the induction of 61 training aircraft by FTOs till November, he said, adding that the civil aviation regulator has approved two FTOs in 2025.
As of November 2025, India has 40 FTOs operating across 62 bases, Mohol said.
He said the modernisation of flying-training infrastructure is market dependent and undertaken on the basis of the commercial consideration of the FTOs, adding that the civil aviation ministry currently has no intervention in the same.
"However, India being an ICAO member, DGCA aligns its training and regulatory framework to ICAO's Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs). DGCA regularly assesses the quality and adequacy of flying training through robust regulatory framework," Mohol said.
A continued review of safety standards is undertaken during the surveillance of these FTOs, in accordance with the published Annual Surveillance Plan of the DGCA, the minister said. Special safety audits and spot checks are also carried out as and when needed, he added.
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Karnataka Governor gives assent to legislation against ‘honour killing’ in inter-caste marriages
Bengaluru: The government has brought into force the Karnataka Freedom of Choice in Marriage and Prevention and Prohibition of Crimes in the name of honour and tradition (Eva Nammava Eva Nammava) Act, 2026, intended to restrict ‘honour killings’ in inter-caste marriages.
According to The Indian Express, the legislation received assent from Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot on April 9 and was officially notified in the state gazette on April 10. The law had been passed unanimously by the state legislature last month.
The Bill was proposed by the Congress government in the wake of caste-linked ‘honour killings’ in the state, including the December 21, 2025, murder near Hubli of a 20-year-old Lingayat woman by her father for marrying a man from another caste.
The phrase ‘Eva Nammava Eva Nammava’ in the title is in reference to the message of universal humanity that the Lingayat saint Basavanna espoused. Basavanna, who rebelled against the caste system to lay the foundation of the Lingayat faith system, an amalgamation of all castes, used the words meaning ‘he is a part of me’ to say all people are one.
Under the new law, crimes committed in the name of ‘honour’, including murder, assault, threats, and social boycott, are specifically addressed with stringent punishments. ‘Honour killing’ offences carry a minimum imprisonment of five years, while serious assaults attract at least three years in jail.
The new law defines the social boycott of inter-caste couples as forcible eviction to remote corners of villages, refusal to provide services, refusal to provide work, refusal to conduct business, denial of loans and admissions to schools, and makes it punishable.
In the case of ‘honour killings’ per se, the new law prescribes a minimum imprisonment of five years, and in the case of assaults, a prison term that is not less than three years for serious injury and two years for minor injuries.
The offences under the proposed law are cognisable and non-bailable, which means police can carry out arrests without court permissions after taking up a case.
The legislation follows several reported inter-caste relationship-related killings in Karnataka in 2025, including cases in Raichur and another involving 18-year-old Kavita.
The law to protect the freedom of choice in marriages is among several social bills that the Congress government has brought out in line with its policies for the backward and downtrodden communities in the state.
