Aviation Life

In the Cockpit

Born supremacy

At a tender age when friends around him are still in college, he is already heading a successful aviation academy; training and advising aspiring pilots, besides being a certified commercial pilot himself. Captain Agarwal, CEO, Supreme Aviation, tells us more about his journey. By Beryl Menezes

His father, who is in the business of surface transport, wanted him to follow in his footsteps. But Amit Agarwal had other plans. From enrolling in a hotel management course to a brief stint in the military, being a photographer with a leading newspaper to almost becoming a certified instructor at Shiamak Davar's dance school, the man finally settled on becoming a certified commercial pilot. Meet Captain Agarwal, all of 19 years and raring to go. One would hardly imagine that behind the framed eyes and the shy face is the CEO of Supreme Aviation India - a training academy for aspiring pilots.

A consultant, Agarwal provides information to anyone who seeks it - getting Class-1 medicals, choosing centres for theory exams, documents and visa handling to go abroad, or information about good flying schools in the US, Australia or Canada - at no extra cost. "Even though I come from a family of businessmen, I am not doing this for the money, but purely to help people realise their dreams of flying and finding the right means and ways of making that dream come true," he says.

While he rues over the fact that the DGCA and the civil aviation authority in India have dealt thousands of students a raw deal, including himself, he feels that at least consultants like him can make a difference by leading apirants in the right direction. "India is in dire need of commercial pilots. Yet, the DGCA has only four centres in India for the conducting of Class-1 medicals - the first step to acquiring a student's flying license. Plus, the dates for them are only posted for 2009 - thus students passing out in 2007 have to wait two years just to get their medicals done."

He therefore recommends going abroad, joining a good flying school, getting an instructor's license and teaching there, and then coming back to India to get the foreign commercial license converted to an Indian license, in order to fly chartered aircraft here. "That way students will be able to recover a part of the Rs 20 lakh they pay for their training as one gets paid in dollars abroad if they have an instructor's license. Besides, one would not have to waste a year or two in India just waiting to get the license converted."

But how did he get into the field? "I stumbled upon the Bombay Flying Club and realised that my heart belonged there." Unfortunately, he didn't get too far. He was initially informed that he could become a pilot with a minimum qualification of Class 10 but was later told he needed to complete his HSC. He then joined the Ahmedabad Flying Club, which he was told was the 'one-stop destination' to learn flying but he ended up wasting 10 months there without learning anything except how bad the state of aviation was in India. He finally returned to Mumbai more confused than ever. "But I was lucky to meet successful commercial pilots along the way who directed me to a good flying school in the US - Monarch - where after learning the ropes and being given an opportunity to fly over 18 states in 10 different aircraft, ranging from Cessnas to Boeings, I was made director (International Relations) in charge of the Monarch training academy," he says.

"Monarch was more into selling training aircraft Cessnas than running a training academy, so I had almost complete charge." From inducting more Indian students to having Indian instructors and Indian-owned aircraft, the only desi touch missing is that all this happens outside of India. "I personally own two Cessnas now, but the planes are in the US. I cannot bring them here as we still do not have a regular airfield for training. Indians therefore have no option but to train abroad and then return to India and convert their licenses to be able to fly with Indian commercial airlines. Alternatively, they can stay and make a great career abroad," Agarwal adds.

So why did he come back to India? "I am still Indian at heart and it is my wish that more Indians get an opportunity to fly - even if it means flying from the comfort of their own backyard, purely for the love of flying and not to make a career out of it. India should have more airports and more airstrips just like they do abroad so that amateurs are allowed to fulfill their passion to fly. We at Supreme Aviation India are trying to do just that through our office here. It is 'from where dreams take off'," he says.

So what else is Agarwal passionate about? "I enjoy partying. Besides that, I still pursue my passion for photography, besides improving my skills at web designing." Though he doesn't get much time to pursue his hobbies, he is not discontent. "I am not a graduate but that doesn't bother me because the experiences that I've had and the different people that I've met - all in such a short span of time - have enriched me in so many ways. I have pursued this career entirely on my own and I feel proud to see my students become successful pilots. I love flying and will continue in my endeavour to help similar-minded people achieve their dream - no matter what it takes."