Air India is planning to hire over 900 pilots and 4,200 cabin crew trainees this year according to a report published in Indian Express. The Report says that The Tata Group airline is also looking to step up hiring of pilots and maintenance engineers going forward.
The announcement comes close on the heels of the airline announcing a massive 470-aircraft purchase order from Airbus and Boeing. The order also includes 370 options, which could take the actual order size to up to 840 planes.
Even the firm order for 470 planes is the biggest-ever aircraft order placed by an airline in one go. Additionally, the Tata Group airline is already in the process of leasing 36 aircraft, two of which have already joined its fleet, Air India said in a statement.
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The current combined fleet size of Air India and Air India Express is estimated at 140 planes, with the majority being narrow-body aircraft. Of the 470 planes ordered by the airline, 70 are wide-body planes while 400 are single-aisle aircraft. Air India expects to take the delivery of 31 of the ordered aircraft this year itself.
The Air India group, which would include a full-service carrier after merger of Air India and Vistara and a low-cost airline after the the merger of Air India Express and AirAsia India, would require thousands of pilots to operate its expanded fleet once all the ordered aircraft are delivered. Some reports have pegged the requirement at over 6,500 pilots.
Ever since Air India returned to the Tata Group a little over a year ago, the new owners have been focused on sprucing up the product offering, while also planning an extensive expansion for the airline. A five-year roadmap – Vihaan.AI – was prepared with the objective of substantially growing the airline’s network and fleet in a bid to put it on a “path to sustained growth, profitability, and market leadership”.
Air India plans to hire cabin crew from all over the country and the trainees will undergo a 15-week programme that will include “extensive classroom and in-flight training”. The airline added that from May last year, it has so far hired over 1,900 cabin crew, of which around 500 have been deployed over the past three months.
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