AIR INDIA (AI/IC) to hire 200 new co-pilots ????

[pilot.india]

I was just going thru a report on shortage of crew with air india.
It is very interesting to know that air india might come up with an open add for cpl holders.

If you read the report (link given below). It says that

" The airline’s recruitment drive to hire 200 new co-pilots is pending with the chairman and managing director. “All the concerned departments barring the CMD’s office have cleared it,” said another senior pilot. "

Anyone with any further information on this.

original link:

Shortage of crew delaying Air India flights on busy routes - Hindustan Times (http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Mumbai/Shortage-of-crew-delaying-Air-India-flights-on-busy-routes/Article1-917398.aspx)

[cyrilroy21]

The Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) “shot down” Air India management’s plan to hire pilots from another beleaguered airline, citing it as “unnecessary”.
Sources in the airline have revealed that the management was planning to absorb Kingfisher Airlines pilots on contract basis to fly its narrow-bodied aircraft and approached the ICPA, seeking an NOC for the same that was later denied.
These aircraft consist of the AI’s airbus fleet, which belonged to the erstwhile Indian Airlines, essentially used for domestic operations. ICPA is the pilots un-ion of the IA, but continued to maintain the body even after the merger in 2007.
Sources said that the airline was reportedly facing a shortage of pilots and had decided to take some Kingfisher pilots on a contractual basis, which the ICPA found “erroneous” on two major counts.
“The airline already has 657 pilots from the ICPA who are sitting unutilised because of the poor management by authorities. If utilised well, all pilots can satisfy the operational needs on all domestic routes, which the management is incapable of doing. Moreover, the airline should hire pilots directly as Air India employees and not on contractual basis as they are subject to the existing career progression policy and do not supersede the existing ICPA pilots who are eligible for promotion,” said an airline pilot, requesting anonymity.
A top Air India official said he was unaware of any such development, but did not rule out the possibility of the same. “It might have taken place involving officials from Delhi or other departments,” said the official.
The Air India spokesperson remained unavailable for comment. The airline had “unofficially” issued a gag order on interacting with the media after the July 5 incident when turbulence hit the Delhi-Shanghai flight, injuring a few passengers and crewmembers.


AI stopped from hiring Kingfisher pilots | The Asian Age (http://www.asianage.com/mumbai/ai-stopped-hiring-kingfisher-pilots-938)

[Prop.Time]

AI hiring 200 co-pilots....:mad::mad:

Leave alone the act of shooting down the proposal, The ICPA chaps by now would have shot the writer who wrote this gutter-trap nonsense in the first place.:ugh:

[Hogger60]

Found this online...


AI confronts Dreamliner pilot shortage



New Delhi, Sept. 2: Air India has just four pilots capable of handling the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, making it difficult for the ailing carrier to include the plane in its busy winter schedule.
According to officials in the civil aviation ministry, even if Air India manages to get the first five Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft within the next two months, it may not be able to operate all of them because of the acute shortage of pilots.
Air India is supposed to get five of the 27 aircraft this year. "According to the norms, around 90 pilots (commander and first officer), are required to fly the five Dreamliners. At present, four are available," civil aviation minister Ajit Singh said.
According to ministry officials, training of Dreamliner pilots will take time. Around 77 pilots are supposed to be trained, but the time of completion of the training is not known. "We will see what exactly needs to be done about the shortage but in all probability Dreamliners will be part of our winter schedule," they said.
In the last two years, the national carrier has faced a series of hurdles in getting pilots ready for the Dreamliner. In fact, it faced two strikes over the training of pilots.
Recently, pilots of the erstwhile Air India, who flew on international routes, had demanded that their colleagues from Indian Airlines be barred from training to fly the Dreamliner.
About 400 pilots under the banner of the Indian Pilots Guild, had gone on a 60-day strike, which cost the loss-laden national carrier Rs 300 crore. The issue still remains unresolved.
"We are going ahead with the training of pilots and would have them ready soon," a senior AI official said.
Ministry officials said there was a need for 396 pilots for 18 Boeing 777 aircraft but only 297 were available.
Meanwhile, Singh has said the salaries of AI employees have been paid up to May along with the performance-linked incentives for April.