Hiring PROACTIVELY, Cabin Crew Shortage Rumours BASELESS: Air India

AIR INDIA ISSUES CLARIFICATION: Rumours regarding cabin crew shortage are completely baseless.  On the contrary, Air India has been hiring proactively in the last few months in order to cater to the growing traffic on domestic and international routes.

New Delhi: Dismissing reports which claimed that Air India has been facing a cabin crew shortage, the Tata group-owned carrier said that it has been hiring proactively in the last few months in order to cater to the growing traffic on domestic and international routes’. “Rumours regarding cabin crew shortage are completely baseless.  On the contrary, Air India has been hiring proactively in the last few months in order to cater to the growing traffic on domestic and international routes. Nonetheless, we regret the inconvenience that the delay may have caused to our valuable passengers”, said Air India Spokesperson.

The development comes nearly a month after reports claimed that Air India plans to hire expat pilots for its Boeing 777 planes as the airline is facing a shortage of pilots amid plans to expand its fleet as well as international operations, according to sources.

The carrier is looking to rope in around 100 pilots for the wide-body Boeing 777 fleet and has approached various agencies that provide expat flight crew to airlines, sources had revealed PTI.

For the unversed, the loss-making Air India, which was under government ownership for nearly seven decades till the Tata group took over in January 2022, had stopped hiring expat pilots many years ago to save costs.

Meanwhile, Air India also asserted that some of the flights have faced operational and crew entry passes issues but these are sporadic and the same has been addressed promptly.

“Air India regrets that some of our North America flights have been delayed due to operational issues arising from the slower-than-expected issuance of Airport Entry Passes to cabin crew. Air India is working closely with relevant authorities to expedite the issuance of remaining passes. We regret the inconvenience that this has caused to our passengers.”