Before You Take Off, Know What It Takes
An honest look at the cost, timeline and reality of pilot training based on 19+ years of training pilots in India.
Capacity is capped so the room stays small enough for real questions.
This is the journey from your first registration to completing your pilot training. ALTITUDE breaks down the key steps, costs, regulations and decisions along the way so you know what you're getting into before you commit.
The path from Class 2 to Class 1 medical clearance at IAM and Command Hospitals, and the delays that quietly disqualify candidates before training even begins.
The Pariksha portal, Computer Numbers, and a realistic preparation plan across Navigation, Meteorology and Air Regulations.
Aircraft-to-cadet ratios, slot allocation reality, and how monsoon versus winter windows change your actual hours-per-month.
DGCA regulations for domestic flying, EASA rules under an EU member state, and non-EASA ICAO rules and what each path means for your eventual licence.
Line-item budget breakdowns covering tuition, fuel surcharges and visa buffers, so you know the full cost before you commit.
Recency requirements, RTR(A), and the Indian check-ride sequence, the workflow that converts a foreign licence into one you can fly on at home.
How to read a school's actual numbers: fleet age, aircraft downtime logs, and instructor ratios before you commit.
Capt. Shahinsha S.K is the Founder & Director of Trans Aviacons, a former DGCA-Approved Examiner and Chief Flight Instructor with more than 5,000 hours of instructional flying experience.
Capt. Roy Ritter brings more than 30 years of experience in aviation and flight training. As a flight instructor and Head of Training, he has extensive experience in professional pilot training and the practical realities of building a career in aviation.
Stanko Pavlović brings experience across aviation training and management. Before taking on his current role, he served as Director of a flight training centre and has also worked in aviation education and engineering. He brings a broader perspective on flight training, training operations and the path from student pilot to professional aviation.
Most ground schools license their equipment and software. We build ours, because the tools that existed weren't good enough for what we wanted to teach.
A Garmin glass-cockpit training device we design and manufacture ourselves. It's how our cadets get comfortable in a cockpit before their first flight lesson. Not a video game, an actual instrument layout.
Our own platform for Radio Telephony training, built because we felt Indian RTR preparation deserved a better tool than what already existed.
From theoretical training in India to flight training in India and Europe, the pathway can be built around the route that best fits the candidate.
The complete training pathway from DGCA theoretical knowledge and pilot preparation to practical flight training in India. Flight training at Vellore is coming soon.
A European flight training route offering PPL, CPL Modular, IR, ATPL Theory, Class Ratings and Flight Instructor courses.
Commercial and private pilot flight training in Serbia, providing a practical route from student pilot to professional aviation.
Selected cadets who demonstrate the required competence, professionalism and instructional aptitude may have the opportunity to undertake Flight Instructor training and work within our training ecosystem for a minimum of two years.
This pathway enables eligible pilots to:
A look at day-to-day training across our theory classrooms and flight lines alike.
Moments from earlier briefings and ground sessions, before this year's edition.
A ₹699 pass admits the candidate and a parent because financing and risk decisions in this career are rarely made alone.
Line-item cost breakdowns across every stage, so the number a family plans around is the real on, not the headline figure.
What can go wrong across an 18–24 month training timeline, and how each risk is planned for before it becomes a cost.
A private way to ask the sensitive questions: cost overruns, backup plans, past outcomes without a public mic or a name attached.
No. ALTITUDE '26 is designed to give students and parents a clear understanding of what pilot training actually involves. Partner FTOs are on the panel to answer direct questions, not to close seats from the stage.
Both. The ₹699 pass covers a candidate and one more attendee, since financing and risk decisions are rarely made by one person alone.
No. The seven stages run in sequence from eGCA registration onward, so the briefing works for candidates who haven't started as much as those mid-pipeline.
Where to train, what route to take, what the training can realistically cost, how long it may take, and what to check before committing to a flight school.
