Hindustan Group of Institutions: An Aviation University

In the true spirit of an aviation university.

The national university that was yet to come

In 2013 the government cleared the Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University at Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, billed as the country's first national aviation university.

Less known, mainly because of the kind of organisation it was, the Hindustan Group of Institutions (HGI) had lived the idea of an aviation university since 1994. It ran a flight school, engineering colleges, management courses and aircraft maintenance engineering schools.

How the group grew

The group opened its engineering school back in 1968. In the early 1980s its founder, the late Dr KCG Verghese, bought private aircraft for his own use. The same visionary started Air Asiatic, the first "air taxi" operator to fly after India's Open Skies policy of 1991. With a single Boeing 737-200, it flew for less than a year before internal problems closed it.

Soon after, in 1994, the group opened Orient Flight School and Orient Flights, its charter arm. In 1998 the Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science began offering aeronautical engineering, and when it became a deemed university, Hindustan University, in 2008, aerospace engineering followed.

Everything under one roof

Unlike the national university in the north, which was still to be set up, the Hindustan Group in the south was the only group offering all of this: Aircraft Maintenance Engineering, a BSc in Aviation, BE degrees in Aeronautical and Aerospace Engineering, MTech degrees in aeronautical, aircraft maintenance and avionics fields, full and part time PhDs in aeronautics and aerospace, an MBA in aviation, and flying training for the private and commercial pilot licences. Such a set up was probably unique in Asia. Its strength was the interaction between the arms, which built a well rounded skilled workforce.

The national university was meant to train pilots, maintenance engineers and cabin crew. The Hindustan Group had no service focus; its mission was skilled technical people.

Flight school students could study at the engineering college and earn a degree as well. Maintenance students got to start up jet aircraft at an engineering college and maintain aircraft at the flight school. Engineering students at the deemed university flew in the flight school's aircraft as part of their course, logging flight data while watching aerodynamics and systems at work.

The depth of that experience showed in our talks with a random set of students from each school. The exposure and industry relevant knowledge made the group the best bet for practical technical education, and a fairly attractive option for flying training.

The three reports

The group and its aviation institutes were set to grow further in 2014. Our first hand reports, from a four day visit in February 2014, covered:

• Diploma in Aircraft Maintenance Engineering: Hindustan Institute of Engineering and Technology (HIET), Chennai.
• Bachelors and Masters in Aeronautical and Aerospace Engineering: Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science (HITS), Hindustan University, Chennai.
• Commercial and Private Pilot training: Orient Flight School (OFS), Pondicherry.