THRISSUR: Every other job that Haizil Jebin landed refused to deter him from his dream of becoming a pilot. In going from a food-delivery agent to achieving a commercial pilot’s licence, the 29-year-old from Kodungallur faced many struggles .
After completing his higher secondary, Haizil wanted to take up a course in aircraft engineering, but his circumstances stood in the way. This, however, opened the path to a BTech in electronics and communication. He was about to graduate when his father, who was working at a private firm, suffered a cardiac arrest.
“He was brought home in a coma. And the responsibility of taking care of the family fell on me. My mother worked at the munsiff court, but her income was not enough to make ends meet. I began my career as a food-delivery agent, something that I pursued along with my studies,” he told TNIE.
“After graduation I bagged a job as a teacher with an edutech company in Bengaluru. In between, I tried my hands at getting recruited to the Indian Army as a pilot. Though I cleared the initial stages, that was as far as I got. But I refused to give up on my passion. When the time came, I decided to quit my job and pursue a commercial pilot’s licence.”
Funding the course was a major hurdle, but Haizil decided to go ahead. He topped up a scholarship from the institution with loans and went on to get his licence. “Training to be a pilot is costly. I took a 14-month course, which set me back around `40 lakh.”
Haizil is now in the process of converting his Philippine licence into an Indian one.