Perhaps one of the biggest differences seen following Air India’s privatization is that the carrier doesn’t sit on its problems for too long and comes up with solutions faster than before. Not too long ago, Air India had to suspend six non-stop flights to the US due to staff shortage, but by the end of this month, it will have resumed all of the dropped services.
Bringing them back
In March, it was revealed that Air India was dropping six non-stop services to the US. At the CAPA India Aviation Summit, the carrier’s CEO Campbell Wilson said that Air India was suspending three flights each to San Francisco and Newark airports for the next few months. The reason behind this was a staff shortage
The airline deploys a fleet of Boeing 777 aircraft to the US and has been looking for more qualified pilots over the last few months to meet operational demands, especially with new 777s joining its fleet.
But it seems that it is working hard to resolve those issues, with three of the dropped US services already restored and the remaining three planned to be back by the end of this month. Air India operates 44 weekly services to the US to New York, Newark, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. It also has 14 weekly flights to Canada to Toronto and Vancouver.
Working to get an adequate workforce
While Air India’s rapid fleet and network expansion has added momentum to its growth trajectory, the recruitment drive for qualified flying crew has not been able to match the pace. Before the Tatas took over, the carrier did not see any significant addition to its fleet in recent years and even had several airplanes grounded.
