Article in Mumbai Mirror on 15.04.2013
Massive turnout at AirAsia interviews
As many as 3,500 came for 100 posts; encouraged, the Malaysian airline will hold interviews for captains and first officers in Bangalore on April 19
Aditya.Anand @timesgroup.com
Asia’s largest budget carrier, AirAsia, held interviews for cabin crew for its India operations on Saturday, and as many as 3,500 people from across the country turned up for just 100 available positions.
While the huge turnout was good news for the airline, many aspirants ended up being disappointed as they hardly had any time to convince the recruiters. The low-cost airline had booked the hotel from 9 am to 3 pm and several candidates’ interview lasted for just 30 seconds. The registration for the interview started before 9 am, while candidates had started arriving from 7.30 am.
Officials said 100 people had appeared from Mumbai alone and several of them were former Kingfisher airlines crew members.
The AirAsia website mentioned that the interview included five stages-documents, height check, cat walk and skin check, group discussion and personal interview. AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes,whowasinChennaiatthetime,wasnota part of the six-member panel that conducted the proceedings.
“The response was positive. Aspirants in the age group of 20-35, including those from Kingfisher Airlines, came from all over India,” said Bo Lingam, chief operating officer, AirAsia.
Encouraged by the response for cabin crew, the Malaysian airline has decided to hold interviews for the posts of captains and first officers as well, in Bangalore on April 19.
Indian operations, according to Lingam, will start off with a fleet of five Airbus 320s. “For the posts of captains and first officers, applications willbeacceptedtillApril19.Itwillnotbeawalk-in interview,” he said.
Meanwhile, hundreds of aspirants went back disappointed on Saturday.
“They just threw a glance at me and 30 others who were paraded together on the stage. They then told me that I won’t fit in AirAsia uniform,” said Malad-resident Azfar Khoja. Syed Mushtaqeem of Vile Parle, who got rejected in the physicalround,rued,“Alltheyaskedustodowassmile. How can this be a criterion?”
Rayhaan Ahmed Javed and Venkat Kishore wentasfarastermingtheentireexerciseasunprofessional. “I was told that I was over qualified because my height is 174 cm. I have heard of people gettingrejectedforbeingtooshort.Iamunableto understand why I was rejected,” Kishore said.
When contacted, an AirAsia spokesperson said, “We have certain criteria and we follow a strict procedure. We have collected everybody’s resume and will contact them if they suit any profile in the future.”
AirAsia,with49percentstake,willmakeitsIndiaentrywithpartners TataSons(30percent)and Arun Bhatia’s Teltra Tradeplace (21 per cent).
This would be the first by a foreign carrier in the Indian aviation sector since the government relaxed rules allowing overseas airlines to take up to 49 per cent stakes in domestic carriers in September 2012.
Around 3,500 people from across the country turned up for the interview in Chennai
Officials said 100 people had come from Mumbai and several of them were former Kingfisher airlines crew members
Can anyone confirm if the highlighted part of this article is authentic?