Air India plans on hiring over 4,200 cabin crew, 900 pilots in 2023

Tata Group-owned Air India is planning to hire over 4,200 cabin crew trainees and 900 pilots in 2023, as part of its massive expansion plan.

This announcement comes less than a fortnight after the airline signed major deals with Airbus SE and Boeing to supply 470 aircraft.

The airline also plans to lease 36 aircraft and out of them, two B 777-200 LR have already been inducted.

In a release on Friday, Air India said it "plans to hire over 4,200 cabin crew trainees and 900 pilots in 2023 as the airline adds new aircraft and rapidly expands its domestic and international operations".

Between May 2022-February 2023, the airline hired more than 1,900 cabin crew. "Over 1,100 cabin crew have been trained in the last seven months (between July 2022-January 2023), and in the past three months, approximately 500 cabin crew have been released for flying by the airline," the release said.

Sandeep Verma, Head - Inflight Services at Air India, said the addition of fresh talent will accelerate the pace of cultural transformation at the airline and added that it is also looking to step up hiring of more pilots and maintenance engineers.

The cabin crew will undergo a 15-week programme to impart safety and service skills, and will be coached to exemplify the best of Indian hospitality and Tata group culture. The training programme will include extensive classroom and in-flight training at the airline's training facility in Mumbai as well as familiarisation flights, the release said. 

To match up to 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, Mr Kumar said.

With inputs from agencies