Air India is rapidly expanding and employs 600 pilots and cabin crew members each month, says CEO

30 May 2023 , 09:42 AM

Air India’s CEO Campbell Wilson told PTI on Monday that the airline is hiring 550 cabin crew members and 50 pilots each month and anticipates having six wide-body A350 aircraft in its fleet by the end of this year, expressing optimism about the carrier’s development prospects and a ‘healthy start’ to its five-year transformation plan. 

Tata Group has implemented a number of initiatives to turn around the fortunes of the loss-making carrier since assuming control from the government in January last year, including placing the largest order for 470 planes and increasing foreign operations.

Wilson, the airline’s managing director, and CEO, said there is no specific objective for hiring but that 50 new pilots and roughly 550 members of the cabin staff are being trained each month.

In an interview with PTI in the capital, he stated: ‘In the case of cabin crew workers, it is roughly 10 times, and in the case of pilots, it is about five times on an annual rate of the pre-privatized airline.

He predicts that this hiring pace will last for the majority of this year, fall off by the end of this year, and then pick up speed again towards the end of 2024. ‘It’ (hiring pace) ‘will coincide with aircraft introduction’

Wilson stated that they are also mindful of the consolidation that is subject to regulatory approvals in light of the process of combining Air India Express and AirAsia India (now known as AIX Connect) and Vistara with Air India.

‘There are individuals who can perform the necessary roles. We are balancing the people we bring in from outside with the people who already work for the four airlines… we are integrating the airlines and expanding significantly,’ he said.

Wilson estimated that the total number of employees across all four airlines would be close to 20,000, excluding any new hires made as part of the growth strategy.

Wilson informed the staff earlier this month that since the beginning of this year, Air India and Air India Express have hired more than 3,900 personnel, including more than 500 pilots and 2,400 cabin crew members

Around July or August, the first narrow-body aircraft will be introduced. Regarding the introduction plans for the record order for 470 planes placed earlier this year, Wilson stated that the first wide-body aircraft (A350) will arrive around October.

Air India now has 122 aircraft and is growing its fleet.

By the end of this year, the airline hopes to have six A350 and eight B777 aircraft. The carrier has leased 9 B777 aircraft thus far.

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