Re: Want to be a pilot - join the IAF.
The pay in any country's armed forces is much lower than private sector salaries. My brother nearly joined the British Army but their officer pay was so much lower than what he could have made working in IT that he went into IT instead. (For which he was very grateful, because otherwise he'd have probably ended up having to serve in Iraq)
At any rate, I would be surprised a country would address shortage of pilots by recruiting foreigners. I haven't heard of any country that allows non-citizens to be pilots. Even Britain's Royal Air Force, which accepts all Commonwealth citizens, only allows British citizens to be pilots.
Instead, I would see India trying to hire non-Indians in non-flying roles, to free up Indian citizens to fly.
I see Maddy, was your brother joining a combat or non-combat IT/Eng corps, and are both genres put through similar courses at Sandhurst? And do commonwealth citizens accepted have to have Brit citizenship and/or abandon dual nationality first?
An RAF fighter pilot makes only 33,000 pounds after completing training. By comparison, the driver of an subway train in the UK makes 38,000 pounds.
While admittedly a pilot's pay would rise after promotions, whereas a subway driver doesn't really have much scope for promotion, the raw fact is that after 1 year of working, a pilot risking his life in combat and flying a multimillionpound plane is less well compensated than someone driving public transportation that runs on a fixed track!!!!!
Wow you're right, sad comparison, I really find it sad and strange that military jobs even the most demanding ones such as combat flying have always paid far less than the pvt sector and I think majority of the officers and men are either allured by the thrill/passion for armed service or belong to sections of society which are indifferent to pay scales and also contrarily to those sections of society which find govt sponsored superior training opportunities, esteemed professional career and stability most important. But I feel the pay for military men should be competitive, what do you think is the main reason it's always less in every country?