Air India will require more than 6,500 pilots to operate 470 aircraft that are to be supplied by Airbus and Boeing in the coming years, according to industry sources.
The airline has made orders for the purchase of 840 aircraft, with the option to buy an additional 370, in order to increase its fleet and operations. This is one of any airline's largest aircraft orders.
There are currently 1,600 pilots working for Air India to fly its 113 aircraft, but there have recently been incidents of ultra-long distance flights being cancelled or delayed due to a staff shortage.
Two subsidiaries
The airline's two subsidiaries, Air India Express and AirAsia India, together have around 850 pilots for flying their 54 planes while the joint venture Vistara has more than 600 pilots. The latter has a fleet of 53 aircraft, one of the sources stated.
A little more than 3,000 pilots work for Air India, Air India Express, Vistara, and AirAsia India collectively to fly the 220 aircraft in their fleet.
The most recent solid order from Airbus includes 40 A350-900/1000 and 210 A320/321 Neo/XLR. 20 787s, 10 777s, and 190 737-Max aircraft are included in the firm Boeing deal.
"Air India is taking these 40 A350 majorly for its ultra long-haul routes or flights which lasts over 16 hours. The airline will require 30 pilots, 15 commanders and 15 first officers, per aircraft, which means some 1,200 pilots for A350s alone," the source in the know said.
For Boeing 777
According to the source, 26 pilots are required for one Boeing 777. If the airline inducts 10 such planes, it will require 260 pilots while 20 Boeing 787 will require some 400 pilots considering that each such aircraft needs 20 pilots, 10 commanders and 10 first officers.
Taken together, the induction of 30 wide-body Boeing planes will require a total of 660 pilots, the sources said.
For Airbus A320
On an average, each narrow-body plane, whether it is Airbus A320 family or Boeing 737 Max, requires 12 pilots, implying that 400 such planes in the fleet will require not less than 4,800 pilots for their operations.
On Thursday, Air India Chief Commercial Officer Nipun Agarwal in a Linkedin post said "the order comprises 470 firm aircraft, 370 options and purchase rights to be procured from Airbus and Boeing over the next decade".
The Commercial Pilots Licence (CPL) holders need to have adequate opportunity to get type rated, according to Pankaj Shrivastava, the former Commercial Director of Air India.
A type rating is a specific training that qualifies a pilot to fly a specific type of aircraft.
"Air India would definitely have some plan in place. They would not be buying these planes to put them on ground," he said.
These aircraft are not going to be inducted tomorrow but over a period of time. During that period, Shrivastava said that he was confident that Boeing and Airbus along with Air India will be able to create a large enough pool of pilots by having in place the required number of flight simulators and pilots training.
Plans for setting up training academy
Air India earlier this year announced its plans to set up a training academy, which is a new initiative for the Tata Group.
The academy, being headed by AirAsia India former CEO Sunil Bhaskaran, will rival the biggest and the best anywhere in the world, Air India Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Campbell Wilson had said.
"Over the coming years, the ambitious new Air India and aviation industry generally will require thousands of home-grown pilots, engineers, cabin crew, airport managers and other function specialists. As India's flagship airline, we have the need and duty to develop this talent," he had said earlier.
With inputs from Agencies.
