According to the sources, Air India would need more than 6,500 pilots to fly 470 aircraft that will be provided by Airbus and Boeing over the next few years. The company has placed the order for the purchase of a total of 840 aircraft, with an option to purchase an additional 370 aircraft, in an effort to expand both its fleet and operations. One of any airline’s largest aircraft orders is this one.
There are currently 1,600 pilots working for Air India to fly its 113 aircraft, however recently there have been cases of ultra-long-haul flights being delayed or canceled due to a crew shortage.
What’s Air India’s plan for the future?
A total of 850 pilots are employed by the airline’s two subsidiaries, Air India Express and AirAsia India, to operate its 54 aircraft, whereas Vistara, a joint venture, has over 600 pilots. One of the individuals told PTI that the latter has a fleet of 53 aircraft. A little more than 3,000 pilots work for the combined fleet of 220 aircraft operated by Air India, Air India Express, Vistara, and AirAsia India.
40 A350-900/1000 and 210 A320/321 Neo/XLR are included in the most recent Airbus firm order. The 190 737-Max, 20 787, and 10 777 aircraft make up the Boeing firm order. The source claims that one Boeing 777 requires 26 pilots. If the airline adds 10 of these aircraft, it will need 260 pilots, but adding 20 Boeing 787s will require about 400 pilots given that each of these aircraft requires 20 pilots, 10 first officers, and 10 commanders.
According to the sources, a total of 660 pilots would be needed for the induction of 30 wide-body Boeing aircraft. In order to operate the 400 narrow-body aircraft in the fleet, which includes members of the Airbus A320 family and the Boeing 737 Max, it takes 12 pilots on average per aircraft. In order to get CPL (Commercial Pilots Licence) holders to type rating, according to former Commercial Director of Air India Pankaj Shrivastava, there must be adequate possibilities given for them. In order to be qualified to fly a specific type of aircraft, a pilot must complete type ratings.
These planes won’t be admitted right away; rather, it will take time. During that time, Shrivastava expressed his confidence in the ability of Boeing, Airbus, and Air India to develop a sizable enough pool of pilots by putting in place the necessary quantity of pilot training and flight simulators.
An innovative project for the Tata Group, Air India’s plans to establish a training academy were first revealed earlier this year. Sunil Bhaskaran, the former CEO of AirAsia India, will lead the academy, which will compete with the biggest and best institutions worldwide, according to Campbell Wilson, the managing director and CEO of Air India.
