Tata Group-owned Air India has received nearly 74,000 applications for pilots and cabin crew positions in the past two months, the carrier said in a statement on Thursday.
Of them, 72,000 applications were for cabin crew and 1,752 for pilots, the loss-making airline, which recently went from government’s hands to Tatas, said.
It also received more than 25,000 applications in a little over a week from management postgraduates with three years’ experience in ground-based business roles.
Air India has received more than 2,000 applications for a new tech centre in Kerala for positions, including developers, architects, cyber security professionals, programme managers and UX visual designers.
The carrier, which has not recruited in non-operations areas for more than 15 years, is adding talent in all of its business, including for commercial functions, business support services and operations, according to a release.
“The airline’s aggressive expansion plan, which has already seen 17 long-grounded aircraft return to the skies with 12 more to follow, and the lease-in of 30 narrow- and wide-body aircraft over the next 12 months, also necessitates a significant expansion in the flying crew,” it said.
Air India’s Chief Human Resources Officer Suresh Dutt Tripathi said an entire generation of workforce has missed the opportunity to work for Air India due to limited recruitment over the years.
“Our talent acquisition initiative is focused on identifying and recruiting the right talent in order to ensure that our human resource capabilities keep pace with the growth momentum and evolving needs of the organisation. The induction of new generation talent is also essential to bring about cultural change that will make Air India an employer of choice,” he added.
The airline has put in place the transformation plan ‘Vihaan.AI’ and aims to triple its fleet size in the next five years.
On Tuesday, Air India MD and CEO Campbell Wilson said the revival of Air India is not a “T20 match” but a “Test match”.
He said the airline aims to have 30 percent share in both domestic and international markets in the next five years.
