NEW DELHI: From being a state-owned airline that saw no fleet or personnel augmentation for many years, Air India —now back with founder Tata Group — has been put on the fast track to rapid expansion. The airline will induct 19 wide-body and 50 narrow-body aircraft by next March. To fuel this growth, AI is hiring 550 cabin crew and 50 pilots every month. Inducting new planes will help the airline resolve one of the biggest grouse of customers — dilapidated cabin of the old fleet — and spread its international network with North America and Europe being the priority areas. The airline had recently ordered 470 aircraft, including 70 wide-bodies.
“We will be inducting 19 new wide-body aircraft by the end of next March. (Once that happens) from mid-2024, we will start sending our 40 existing wide-body (27 Boeing 787s and 13 B777s) aircraft for complete refurbishment.
