Aviation: After an $85 bn historic order to buy new aircraft, Air India to hire 1,000 pilots
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Two months after placing the world aviation history’s largest single order to buy 470 aircraft at a whopping cost of over USD 85 billion, Air India is all set to hire more than 1,000 pilots to expand its fleet operation.
In February, the Tata-owned airline, which currently has nearly 1,800 pilots, placed orders to buy 470 aircraft from the US’s Boeing and France’s Airbus, including wide-body planes. The company also has the option to buy another 370 planes from these top manufacturers.
From Airbus, Air India will acquire 210 A320/321 Neo/XLR and 40 A350-900/1000 planes and from Boeing, it will buy 190 737-Max, 20 787s, and 10 777s.
Now Air India, which the Tatas acquired from the Government of India in January 2022, is all set to hire 1,000 pilots, the media reported on Thursday.
“We are offering multiple opportunities and accelerated growth across our A320, B777, B787, and B737 fleet for captains and first officers, as well as trainers,” it said, adding that more than 500 aircraft are joining its fleet soon.
While Air India is recruiting new pilots, its existing ones are concerned about the company’s recent decision to revamp salary structure and service conditions.
On April 17, Air India rolled out a revamped compensation structure for its pilots and cabin crew, which has since been rejected by the two pilot unions – Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) and Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) – on grounds that the airline, in alleged violation of labor practices, did not consult them before finalizing the new contracts.
The venerable Tata Group has four airlines—Air India, Air India Express, AIX Connect, and Vistara, which is a joint venture with Singapore Airlines. The group is in the process of merging Air India Express and AIX Connect as well as Vistara with Air India.
