Perhaps considered one of the largest differences seen following Air India’s privatization is that the carrier doesn’t sit on its problems for too long and comes up with solutions faster than before. Not too way back, Air India needed to suspend six non-stop flights to the US as a result of staff shortage, but by the tip of this month, it’ll have resumed all the dropped services.
Bringing them back
In March, it was revealed that Air India was dropping six non-stop services to the US. On the CAPA India Aviation Summit, the carrier’s CEO Campbell Wilson said that Air India was suspending three flights each to San Francisco and Newark airports for the following few months. The explanation behind this was a staff shortage.
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The airline deploys a fleet of Boeing 777 aircraft to the US and has been on the lookout for more qualified pilots over the previous few months to fulfill operational demands, especially with recent 777s joining its fleet.
But plainly it’s working hard to resolve those issues, with three of the dropped US services already restored and the remaining three planned to be back by the tip of this month. Air India operates 44 weekly services to the US to Latest York, Newark, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. It also has 14 weekly flights to Canada to Toronto and Vancouver.
Working to get an adequate workforce
While Air India’s rapid fleet and network expansion has added momentum to its growth trajectory, the recruitment drive for qualified flying crew has not been capable of match the pace. Before the Tatas took over, the carrier didn’t see any significant addition to its fleet in recent times and even had several airplanes grounded.
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But all that has modified within the last one and a half years. Not only has the brand new management brought back grounded planes into service, several recent aircraft, just like the Boeing 777s, have entered Air India’s fleet. As such, the carrier faced some teething issues find an adequate workforce to operate these aircraft. This 12 months alone, Air India will add 11 Boeing 777s to its fleet. CEO Campbell Wilson told the Press Trust of India,
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Indeed, Air India has been adding as many as 50 pilots and 550 cabin crew members a month. This may likely proceed until the tip of this 12 months and can take off again as more planes begin to hitch its fleet.
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