# Centre clears 11 flying schools, IndiGo pilot hiring lags flight growth 2026-08-06T11:50:19+00:00 | Business & Economy | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets The Ministry of Civil Aviation has issued Letters of Intent for 11 new Flying Training Organisations at seven AAI airports, adding 750 pilot training seats annually, minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu announced. Indian FTOs now operate 385 training aircraft, up from 324, and Commercial Pilot Licences issued hit 1,652 in 2025, the highest in a decade. Separately, IndiGo’s FY26 annual report shows it added only 330 pilots while increasing flights by 2% to 7,87,741 and carrying over 123 million passengers. This follows a 418-pilot addition in FY25 and a 631-pilot increase in FY24. The airline faced a capacity cut after December’s operational disruption, and reports had estimated it needed 1,000 more pilots under new duty norms. ## Coverage - thehindu.com - businesstoday.in Tags: aviation, civil aviation, flying schools, pilot training Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/centre-clears-11-flying-schools-with-750-annual-training-seats/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/centre-clears-11-flying-schools-with-750-annual-training-seats/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.