Psychological tests ordered for new pilot recruits at Air India has resulted in the rejection of a third of all candidates.
However a group of pilots who failed have called the tests flawed.
The tests were introduced in the wake of the of the recent Germanwings plane crash in the French Alps.
Air India used the services of a psychologist from the Indian Air Force to check mental fitness to fly of the candidates, and out of 160 chosen for interviews, 56 failed the test.
“The candidates were predominantly rejected on recommendation of the psychologist. A pilot found unfit in the psychologist test, even if he had passed the simulator test, was not selected,” an airline source was quoted.
Some of the rejected candidates sent a letter to Air India management outlining their grievances.
“A pilot cannot be judged in a psychometric test in a span of 10 minutes and, that too, via verbal communication. Without conducting a proper psychometric test, how can a doctor conclude that all the rejected candidates are mentally unfit? If that is the case, then can Air India explain how among the rejected candidates there are some who have been selected to pilot Go Air and Indigo Airlines,” the letter said.
“Instead of a written test or a detailed questionnaire, the doctor just asked us random questions for 10 minutes and was scribbling notes the whole time, without inquiring about any medical condition or prior mental health history,” one pilot said.
An Air India spokesperson said the tests were conducted in accordance with FAA guidelines.
The airline is unlikely to reconsider despite only filling about half the pilot vacancies so far.
