Mumbai: AirAsia India is interviewing pilots of smaller planes such as turboprops after losing a chunk of its crew to rival airlines, as the carrier faces a dearth of pilots for its own Airbus A320 aircraft at the salary levels it is offering. The airline is yet to start operations. The move to hire pilots of other planes may delay its commencement and expansion plans as it will have to train them to fly its own airliners. "They are mostly interviewing Kingfisher Airlines' pilots who used to fly 70 seater ATR (Avions de Transport Regionale) planes," a pilot who has been called for such an interview told ET.
Liquor baron Vijay Mallya-controlled Kingfisher grounded operations in 2012 due to cash and debt problems. Over the past few months, the Indian unit of AirAsia has lost at least seven pilots, one of whom went to Air India Express and the rest to rival budget carrier IndiGo. ET spoke to three such pilots.
14/01/14 Anirban Chowdhury/Economic Times
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Liquor baron Vijay Mallya-controlled Kingfisher grounded operations in 2012 due to cash and debt problems. Over the past few months, the Indian unit of AirAsia has lost at least seven pilots, one of whom went to Air India Express and the rest to rival budget carrier IndiGo. ET spoke to three such pilots.
14/01/14 Anirban Chowdhury/Economic Times
