Air India hired 9,000 employees in two years to meet needs: Airline chief

Air India has hired 9,000 employees, including 5,000 crew members, in the last two years to meet the workforce requirement for its expanding fleet and network, the airline's chief Campbell Wilson said on Friday.

In a message to staff, he said the airline's domestic market share rose from 24 per cent in FY23 to 27 per cent in FY24 and the international market share climbed from 21 per cent to 24 per cent during the same period, on the back of network expansion and service improvements.

The airline has completed two years of its five-year ambitious transformation plan Vihaan.AI.

On a consolidated basis, the Tata Group-owned airline recorded a 25 per cent rise in operating revenues and a more than 50 per cent reduction in loss in the last financial year.

"When we consider that the FY in question covered only the early part of our transformation program, before most of the initiatives we have been working on were implemented, these early results should encourage us that the effort is bearing fruit. Work has of course continued apace in the six months since the FY ended, and the strong momentum has continued...," Wilson said.

According to him, the airline has added 9,000 employees, including 5,000 new crew members in the last two years, while the average age of the staff has come down to 35 years from 54 years.

The carrier has also commenced the refit of 67 narrow-body aircraft with new cabin configurations and seats. With three to four aircraft to be retrofitted each month, the entire narrow body fleet is expected to be upgraded by mid-2025.

"In parallel, our 40 legacy 787 and 777 aircraft will follow as soon as the seats - which we've already selected - are certified and delivered," Wilson, the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, said.

Air India has an operational fleet of 142 planes. It has launched 35 new routes -- 10 domestic and 25 international ones -- and 11 new destinations -- 2 domestic and 9 overseas ones.

Whether it is cost reduction, product improvement, strengthening sales, distribution and revenue management, bolstering customer loyalty, uplifting our reputation, driving efficiencies, upgrading skills or any other area, everything contributes to our financial performance in some way, Wilson said
Loss-making Air India was acquired by Tata Group in January 2022. As part of consolidating the group's airline business, the integration of Air India
Express and AIX Connect will be completed in October while the merger of Air India and Vistara is set to happen in November.