Air India pilots and cabin crew - Too many or too few? - Curt Lewis

Centre asks Air India to hire more pilots, cabin crew NEW DELHI: The civil aviation ministry has asked Air India to hire more pilots and cabin crew after it found that the national carrier is still reeling under a shortage that is resulting in delay of flights. The recruitment process, which will begin with the carrier ascertaining the number of people required, comes shortly after Air India hired more than 900 cabin crew members and 220 pilots. The airline has a strength of 3,500 cabin crew members and 1,500 pilots. "The civil aviation ministry has asked us to hire more to tide over the problem of availability of pilots and cabin crew for flights. The ministry asked us to carry out hiring after the operations department complained about the unavailability of crew," said an Air India executive, who did not want to be identified. The directive came in a meeting called by civil aviation secretary RN Choubey last week to review the performance of the national carrier, which is amidst a government bailout of over Rs 30,000 crore to be provided till 2021-22.  The carrier's poor on-time performance has been a concern for its management and the government for some time, with shortage of pilots and cabin crew being cited as a key reason. Air India was earlier allowed to bridge the deficit by hiring cabin crew members and pilots. It is also in the process of hiring another 200 trainees from various flying institutes in the country, including government-owned Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udan Academy. "The airline has improved its on-time performance but needs to improve it further," said a civil aviation ministry official. According to data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Air India operated least number of flights on time in August. While Air India operated 76.1 per cent of its flights on time, Vistara led the charts by operating 95.1 per cent of its flights on time. Another Air India executive, however, said the shortage is due to mismanagement and the airline has enough on its rolls. "Pilots and cabin crew complain that rosters are changed after being finalised and that is the biggest reason behind the shortage. We do not need to hire if we can manage the existing strength well," said the executive, who did not wish to be identified. An internal survey earlier this year revealed that the carrier changes the rosters nearly half the time, causing confusion and in turn delays. The report was based on data collated over six-seven months to February.