Air India to recruit 100 pilots

Mumbai: India’s national carrier, which could be forced to pare salaries to fight its worst-ever financial crisis, will recruit 100 pilots to fly
the 27 new Boeing 787, which is being added to its ageing fleet.
Around 40 pilots will be from the waitlisted category, who will join within six months as Air India scrambles to fill the vacuum left by expat pilots. Of its 1,500 pilots, 108 are expats, a category that the government wants all Indian carriers to do away within a year.
An Air India official told ET that the firm will send pilots, currently flying the Boeing 777s, to train on the 787s. A 787 needs 6-7 set (commander and co-pilot) of navigators for each aircraft, and the carrier has to recruit more, said the official seeking anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the media.
Air India has 27 Boeing 787s on order and the first deliveries will start in 2011. This lot will embellish the carrier’s active fleet of 115 aircraft by 2014. Air India has grounded the jumbos, the 747s and has till date added 40 new Airbus family aircraft. It has also inducted 18 737-8 — for its low-cost subsidiary Air India Express and 17 of the Boeing 777s — the wide body aircraft for the long-haul routes.
“The recruitment is part of the preparatory plan and is a continuous process. We cannot abruptly get ready for a new aircraft and get pilots from thin air,” said another Air India official.
26/03/10 Manisha Singhal/Economic Times