hoping this answer addresses all these areas once and for all. Your CPL costs can be roughly divided into 6 areas assuming you do it all in India:







Cost of flying (Including Single and Multi Engine Rating)



Cost of ground studies and examinations



Cost of Auxiliary documents like Medicals and RTR(A) license



Cost of living



Cost of renewing your Instrument Rating (Recurrent every 1 year)



Cost of Type Rating (The most important, and often ignored cost)



Let's address these areas one by one:







Cost of Flying (Approximately - 20.5 lacs to 22 lacs) The cheapest flying club in India today will cost around Rs. 9000 an hour to fly a single engine aircraft (Cessna 152 / 172). Assuming you do 200 single engine hours your total single engine cost is Rs. 18,00,000 (Eighteen Lacs). Multi engine flying in India costs around Rs. 25,000 per hour and a full multi engine rating costs anywhere between Rs. 250,000 to Rs. 400,000. (Two lac fifty thousand to Four Lac rupees) Its safe to add around Rs. 5,000 - 10,000 towards flying school / club registration charges, cockpit checks and SPL / FRTOL charges which are documents required prior to joining the flying school / club.







Cost of Ground Studies and Examinations (Approximately 1.5 lacs to 2.25 lacs) A pure Indian CPL holder is required to clear 5 examinations with the DGCA, namely Navigation, Meteorology, Technical - General, Technical Specific and Regulations. Most reputed ground schools offer a full training package that costs around Rs. 150,000 to Rs. 200,000 for all subjects. The good news is that most of these schools offer a 'study till you pass' policy which means you do not need to pay again in case you do not clear and can indefinitely attend classes. Most average cases clear all papers within 2 - 3 attempts per paper. One must note that DGCA charges Rs. 2,500 per CPL examination. Back in 2007 - 08, this was Rs. 500 per paper. Cost of Issue of a CPL / PPL / FRTOL is approximately Rs. 25,000.







Cost of Medicals / RTR Examination (Rs. 6000 to Rs. 12,000 for documentation / & Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 40,000 for ground studies) You may choose to start with Class II medicals for issue of an SPL and FRTOL followed by a Class I medical sometime during your training and before CPL application. Both Class I and Class II medicals hover around Rs. 1000 to 2000 depending on where you get them done. Note, in case you live in a place where many pilots apply for medical dates throughout the year, you may be required to travel for your medicals which is an additional cost. An RTR(A) or RTR(C) license is required for issue of an unrestricted FRTOL from DGCA. This document requires ground studies that may cost anywhere between Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 40,000 depending on the examiner. The exam itself which is conducted by WPC costs Rs. 500 per attempt and requires traveling to Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata or Hyderabad depending on the attempt dates. Issue of an RTR license from WPC costs either Rs.5,000 for a 20 year license or Rs. 10,000 for a lifetime license.







Cost of Living (Variable) No matter where you do your CPL from, you are going to be faced with living costs. Some flying clubs offer hosted accommodation free of charge, but from the little that I've heard, it's often sub-standard. What it costs to live while you do your CPL really comes down to personal lifestyles. I had batch mates living in the hostel taking the flying club bus to ones living in hotels and maintaining a car for the entire duration of their training which could be anywhere between 18 - 36 months.







Cost of Renewing your Instrument Rating (Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 90,000) Pilots who haven't landed a job within a year of getting their CPLs often ignore this cost because it isn't really mandatory to keep your Instrument Rating live to apply for a job. However, for a pilot who wishes to continue flying for sport, unrestricted, renewing the IR every year becomes mandatory and a cost. An IR renewal requires instrument hours and a check on a yearly basis and most flying schools renew it for anywhere between Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 90,000 including examination / check ride fees.







Cost of Type Rating (Rs. 15,00,000 to Rs. 30,00,000) This is by far the make or break point for most uninformed pilots. I know of at least 15 off cases personally, who were not aware a type rating was required post completion of their CPL. Earlier, way back, in the 80s and the 90s, airlines would bear this cost and recover it in the form of a bond signed with a newly employed pilot, typically for 10 - 15 years of employment. The cost of type rating on an aircraft like a Boeing 737 or an Airbus A320 would be recovered from the pilot over this period via salary deductions. However, post the 90s, airlines have required pilots to pay this cost of training upfront. Cost of a type rating today, can be anywhere between 15 lacs to 30 lacs depending on what kind of aircraft or which company one joins. This cost essentially DOUBLES the cost of your CPL which is something most aspirants do not account for in the beginning. 30 Lacs and 60 lacs are 2 VERY different numbers.







Cost of airline training (1025 lacs) Heres another surprise that has cropped up in recent months. Cost of airline training typically includes your mandatory courses like AVSEC and SEP that a pilot generally undergoes post joining an airline. Furthermore, it also includes your supernumerary flight training and SLF phase. These costs were, earlier, borne by the airlines and deducted from the first few months of salary. However, owing to recent financial pressures and a constant supply of pilots, this cost is now to be borne by the pilot. Depending on the airline, you are looking at anywhere between 10 to 25 lacs to be paid towards this training. I have heard of just one airline requiring a bank guarantee as against upfront