Air India CEO Campwell Wilson stated that the group airlines has recruited and onboarded 650 pilots since April 2023. To enhance airline services to the US and increase capacity, Air India Widebody Boeing 777 fleet will have two more by the first week of September in addition to the 2/3 long grounded 787s that have also returned to service, he added.

Of these two, one is 777-200LR which will be deployed on North American Routes, allowing Air India to upgrade more San Francisco and New York frequencies with a premium economy class as well, according to him. The other is the first of the six new B777-300ER that will be used to increase capacity on other routes, he said.

Air India group comprises full service Air India and its two wholly-owned subsidiaries — Air India Express and AIX Connect (erstwhile AirAsia India).  Last year, Air India announced its plans to induct on lease 11 B777s — six B777-300ER and five B777-200-LR, primarily to operate its flights on North American routes.

Significantly all this comes amid the aviation safety regulator DGCA temporarily suspending all training at Air India’s Mumbai and Hyderabad facilities after it found certain “lapses” during a spot check. The Mumbai facility imparts training to Boeing fleet pilots and the Hyderabad facility is used for training of operating the narrowbody Airbus A320 family fleet.

GHC is the airline’s first integrated, cross-AOC (air operator certificate) and cross-functional teams. Executives from the three airlines came together to recruit pilots en masse, he said, adding that recruitment is (still) going on.

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