After Record Aircraft Deal, Air India To Hire Nearly 900 Pilots, 4200 Cabin Crew in 2023: Report

The announcement comes close on the heels of the Tata Grou-owned Air India placing an order to buy 470 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus.

The Tata Group, airlines announcement comes less than a week after it announced large-scale agreements with Boeing and Airbus SE to provide 470 aircraft.

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Days after scripting history with the largest-ever aircraft order in the history of global aviation, Tata Group's Air India said on Friday that it plans to hire nearly 4,200 cabin crew and 900 pilots in 2023, Reuters reported. The Tata Group recently announced large-scale agreements with Boeing and Airbus SE to purchase 470 aircraft.

According to Air India, the cabin crew, who will be recruited from around the country, will undergo a 15-week training programme which will include extensive classroom and in-flight training at the airline’s training facility in Mumbai as well as familiarisation flight.

The airline also said that it has hired over 1,900 cabin crew between May 2022 and February 2023. Over 1,100 cabin crew have been trained between July 2022 and January 2023. In the past three months, approximately 500 cabin crew were cleared for flying.

"With a sizeable aircraft order that was announced earlier in the month, more flights on international and domestic networks, and re-alignment of domestic routes with AIX connect, cabin crew will play a decisive role in shaping the present and future of the Air India group. 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," said Sandeep Verma, head of Air India's inflight services.

The development comes close on the heels of Air India announcing mega deals with aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing to acquire 470 jets at an estimated cost of Rs 6.4 lakh crore. 

The order includes 400 single-aisle aircraft (mainly used for domestic travel), split between 140 A320neos, 70 A321neos and 190 Boeing 737 MAXs, and 70 wide-body aircraft (mainly used for international travel) that include 34 A350-1000, 20 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, 10 Boeing 777-9 and six A350-900. 

To cope with India's growing air traffic, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday said that the aviation body will undergo extensive upgradation. 

"We have already discussed the expansion plan to upgrade and strengthen DGCA. We are also planning to open six new regional offices in Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Agartala, Amritsar, Nagpur, and Dehradun," said Arun Kumar, Director General of DGCA, as quoted by news agency ANI.

The DGCA is also recruiting additional staff to boost regulatory oversight, Kumar said.