Air India hiring spree continues as it gears up for long-haul flights, wider reaches

The recruitment drive seems to be impacting other airlines as well. Around 50 percent of flights by IndiGo, which is currently Asia’s biggest budget airline by market value, were delayed on June 2 as a large number of its employees took sick leave to attend an interview at Air India, according to PTI. Out of the 1,600 flights that IndiGo operates, 900 were delayed due to non-availability of crews. As per reports, the airline faced similar issues on July 3 as well.

Air India’s dominance over international routes could be one of the biggest pull factor for the airline. In FY21, Air India had over 17 percent market share of flying Indians abroad. It operates on profitable routes to London, New York, San Francisco and Frankfurt.

Once the airline acquires more long-haul flights as a part of its expansion plan, it will be able to open routes to Africa, East Asia and even to South America. This makes it a desired workplace for cabin crews looking to gain international exposure.

In an attempt to gain more market share in international routes, IndiGo is also planning to expand its fleet. The low-cost carrier has placed orders for new long-haul flights from Airbus, which will be joining its fleet from mid-2024.

Remuneration could also be a reason behind the large numbers of cabin crew members from other airlines attending interviews at Air India. IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta had written a letter to his employees in April saying that ‘salaries are a difficult, thorny issue’ and that the airline has to ‘carefully manage a balance between higher costs, higher ticket prices.’

However, amid Air India’s recruitment drives across the country, Moneycontrol had reported in June that the company’s old employees are disgruntled as they feel they are being replaced by new hires.

In a move that will help the airline to let go of around 3,000 of its employees, Air India has announced a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for its permanent employees who have completed 55 years of age or 20 years of continuous service with the airline. The carrier has also reduced the VRS eligibility age for some of its cabin crew, clerical and unskilled staffers from 55 years to 40 years.