Air India gets over 73K applications for cabin crew, pilots

NEW DELHI: Air India, which has embarked on expansion plans, on Thursday said it has received more than 1,752 applications for pilots and 72,000 applications for cabin crew in the last two months.

The loss-making carrier, taken over by Tata group in January this year, has also received more than 25,000 applications in a little over a week from management postgraduates with three years’ experience in ground-based business roles.

Also, the airline has received more than 2,000 applications for a new tech centre in Kerala for various positions, including developers, architects, cyber security professionals, programme managers and UX visual designers. The carrier, which had not recruited in non-operations areas for more than 15 years, is quickly adding talent in all spheres of its business, including for commercial functions, business support services and operations, according to a release.

“The airline’s aggressive expansion plan, which has already seen 17 long-grounded aircraft return to the skies with 12 more to follow, and the lease-in of 30 narrow- and wide-body aircraft over the next 12 months, also necessitates a significant expansion in the flying crew,” it said.

As part of augmenting its talent pool, Air India said more than 1,752 applications for pilots and 72,000 applications for cabin crew received in the last two months are in the process of assessment.

Air India’s Chief Human Resources Officer Suresh Dutt Tripathi said an entire generation of workforce has missed the opportunity to work for Air India due to limited recruitment over the years.

“Our talent acquisition initiative is focused on identifying and recruiting the right talent in order to ensure that our human resource capabilities keep pace with the growth momentum and evolving needs of the organisation. The induction of new generation talent is also essential to bring about cultural change that will make Air India an employer of choice,” he added.

The airline has put in place the transformation plan ‘Vihaan.AI’ and aims to triple its fleet size in the next five years.