Welcome Aboard! Captain Tejas in Command

Tejas Shah, who turned 27 last month, will next month join Etihad, the flag-carrier airline of the United Arab Emirates, as one of its youngest pilots, ever. I caught up with Tejas during his recent visit to the UK. For Tejas, it’s his dream come true. As a child, he was fascinated with birds. “I could watch them all day,” he said. Much credit, he says, to his father, Sudhir, for supporting him all the way. It was Sudhir who researched flying schools and the future of aviation in India during Tejas’ teenage years and laid the foundations for his son’s career. Soon after completing his Physics and Maths exams at college, in 2005, Tejas signed up to a flying school in Vancouver, Canada, from where he got his first qualification, the Private Pilots License. He then moved to San Diego, California where he completed his Commercial Pilots Course. He explained how, as part of his training, he took part in an exercise involving a “scary” crash landing. “But”, he added, “it taught me a lot and I gained lots of confidence.” In June 2006, Tejas returned to India for further study. On completing his exams, and following several interviews, he was offered the job of co-pilot with Kingfisher Airlines. The airline sent him to Toulouse, France for training to fly the Airbus A320. He also completed a BSc in Aviation at the Institute of Aviation and Aviation Safety, Mumbai University, whilst working for Kingfisher Airlines. During his four years with Kingfisher Airlines Tejas clocked up 3,000 hours of flying time, which enabled him to upgrade to the Airline Transport Pilot License, or ATPL. However, because he was still under 25, he could not apply to be captain. Given this age restriction did not apply to Indigo, a domestic airline part of the same fleet, Tejas applied and was successful. He became captain at the age of 23, making him the youngest captain on the Airbus fleet in India. Having flown all over India as well as to Bangkok, Singapore, Dubai and Muscat, and with around 5,500 hours of flying time, Tejas is now gearing up to join Etihad Airways as captain. “My dream now is to become the youngest captain to fly the A380 – the world’s largest aeroplane,” he says. A former Jamnabai Narsee School pupil, Tejas is fluent in English, Hindi, Gujarati and Marathi. His father, Sudhir, is a chemical engineer and now a corporate trainer and brain mapping expert. His mother, Nita, retired this year after a career with the Indian Bank, spanning 37 years. Tejas has a sister, Prachee, one of India’s most popular classical Kathak dancers. “Prachee has been a big inspiration for me to constantly achieve more,” said Tejas. Prachee has also featured in various Indian soap series including ‘Kyun Ki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi’, ‘Kundli’ and ‘Koshish’. Tejas is married to Aditi Vora. The couple met in 2012 whilst on board, 39,000ft in the sky. “It was love at first sight,” smiled Tejas. Aditi, a well-known hair stylist in Mumbai, was at the time working as an air hostess with Kingfisher Airlines. Their hobbies include travelling and dancing. The couple performed a stunning dance at a wedding reception in London earlier this year. Asked for his thoughts on India’s new Prime Minister Narendra Modi, “Yes, I voted for him,” adding, “India will definitely be a better place in future. He being a Gujarati, he has great business sense and realises the potential of this fantastic country.” Concluding, he laughed, “Now I sometimes wonder, was it the right decision for me to leave India?”