BUSINESS

Air India to hire over 5,100 cabin crew, pilots after record aircraft deal

Source: HT News Desk Feb-24-2023 3 min read

The announcement comes close on the heels of the carrier placing an order to buy 470 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus under deals potentially worth tens of billions of dollars.

Air India on Friday announced its plan to hire over 4,200 cabin crew trainees and 900 pilots this year as the airline expands its domestic and international operations. The cabin crew will undergo a 15-week programme imparting safety and service skills, and will be coached to “exemplify the best of Indian hospitality and Tata group culture”, the airline said in a statement.

The training program will include extensive classroom and in-flight training at the airline’s training facility in Mumbai as well as familiarization flights, it addded.

The announcement comes close on the heels of the carrier placing an order to buy 470 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus under deals potentially worth tens of billions of dollars, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, French President Emmanuel Macron, and US President Joe Biden hailing the agreements as important steps towards deepening India’s strategic partnership with the two countries.

Sandeep Verma, head, Inflight Services said cabin crew will play a decisive role in shaping the present and future of the Air India group with more flights on international and domestic networks.

"Addition of fresh talent will also accelerate the pace of cultural transformation at Air India, which is an integral part of our Vihaan.AI transformation program. We are also looking to step up hiring of more pilots and maintenance engineers,” he said.

Air India has hired over 1900 cabin crew between May 2022-February 2023 and over 1,100 cabin crew have been trained in the last seven months, the airline said. In the past three months, about 500 cabin crew have been released for flying by the airline.