The desolate flying club at Sonari airport. Picture by Uma Shankar Dubey

Jamshedpur, Oct. 20: “.... Like his senior illustrious relative Jamsetji N. Tata, JRD in his own right became a legend in his lifetime. But this is not much because he helped consolidate the biggest industrial empire in India. Jeh, as he was affectionately called, will be remembered for opening up the skies and putting India on the aviation map of the world, to join the world’s great and powerful airline community,” says Murad Fyzee, in his book — Aircraft and Engine Perfect-the story of JRD Tata.

The ace aviator was instrumental in planning the Sonari aerodrome in March 1935.But his vision is fast “blurring” due to a plethora of problems that the two flying institutes in the city are facing. Although normal flights of Tata Steel and other private companies are operating as usual, both the Jamshedpur Co-operative Flying Club (JCFC), formed in 1965 and the Tatanagar Aviation Private Limited (TAPL), born three decades later, are facing tough times. Although they have not closed down, both the JCFC and the TAPL are in a state of “suspended animation”.

“We are aware of the plight of the JCFC and the TAPL. But we are not perturbed and in near future, we will be sending proposals to the state government so that we can start imparting training to aspiring pilots,” said Capt Surendra Sinha, in charge of flying operations of the institute.

Severe fund constraints coupled with spiralling fuel cost have hit JCFC and TAPL. To add to these, response from the trainees have dwindled to a great extent. Infighting between the two clubs has also affected training. The fleet of planes belonging to these two organisations now lie idle at the hangers.

As a senior functionary of JCFC said: “The institute is virtually gasping for breath and the funds crunch is so acute that it is difficult to manage day-to-day affairs.” TAPL’s liabilities have increased manifold in the recent past and regular operations have been affected.

The Tata Steel played a crucial role in formation of JCFC and had even provided financial aid. But it washed its hand off in the early 90s when the state government started intervening.