New Delhi: Air India's cabin crew woes do not seem to be diminishing. Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma admitted in Parliament last week that the airline faces "acute" shortage of crew on both international and domestic flights.
The airline had advertised for over 200 cabin crew positions in August but the recruitment drive was a damp squib. A new advertisement has been released some days back with walk-in interviews scheduled for tomorrow.
But unless the airline changes conditions for employment of the fresh crew being hired, the second drive may also turn out to be unfruitful.
Why is AI finding it tough to recruit cabin crew?
A source pointed out that the airline wants to hire a mix of experienced and fresh crew through the latest recruitment drive.
The freshers and experienced crew recruited would be trained and deployed on the Airbus fleet which operates on domestic routes. This is where the problem lies: the experienced crew coming in from other airlines wants a chance to fly on the international leg on AI's Dreamliner routes.
"Air India wants that even experienced crew being hired now should be deployed on domestic routes but everyone wants to serve on international flights. Already, existing crew which is serving on the domestic sectors wants to get upgraded to international flights so there is a problem," this source said.
The source said it was logical for existing Air India staffers to be upgraded to international flights - which means some more money too in allowances apart from the glamour - and the new recruits should patiently wait for their turn. But obviously no one is buying this argument.
The source further said this time, the airline is clarifying at the outset that initial deployment will happen on domestic flights only for all new cabin crew recruits. But there is no mention of this condition in the advertisement posted on Air India website.
So this time too, it is possible that many of the 238 positions advertised may remain vacant.
02/12/14 Sindhu Bhattacharya/FirstBiz
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The airline had advertised for over 200 cabin crew positions in August but the recruitment drive was a damp squib. A new advertisement has been released some days back with walk-in interviews scheduled for tomorrow.
But unless the airline changes conditions for employment of the fresh crew being hired, the second drive may also turn out to be unfruitful.
Why is AI finding it tough to recruit cabin crew?
A source pointed out that the airline wants to hire a mix of experienced and fresh crew through the latest recruitment drive.
The freshers and experienced crew recruited would be trained and deployed on the Airbus fleet which operates on domestic routes. This is where the problem lies: the experienced crew coming in from other airlines wants a chance to fly on the international leg on AI's Dreamliner routes.
"Air India wants that even experienced crew being hired now should be deployed on domestic routes but everyone wants to serve on international flights. Already, existing crew which is serving on the domestic sectors wants to get upgraded to international flights so there is a problem," this source said.
The source said it was logical for existing Air India staffers to be upgraded to international flights - which means some more money too in allowances apart from the glamour - and the new recruits should patiently wait for their turn. But obviously no one is buying this argument.
The source further said this time, the airline is clarifying at the outset that initial deployment will happen on domestic flights only for all new cabin crew recruits. But there is no mention of this condition in the advertisement posted on Air India website.
So this time too, it is possible that many of the 238 positions advertised may remain vacant.
02/12/14 Sindhu Bhattacharya/FirstBiz
