Air India is gearing up to receive Airbus A350 aircraft later this year and is already training employees for its upcoming operations. The carrier signed a deal with Airbus in February for both widebody and narrowbody aircraft and will become the first airline in the country to operate the A350.
Air India is training its engineers, cabin crew, and pilots to operate the Airbus A350 aircraft that are due to join its fleet starting this November. According to a report by businessline, the carrier is developing its own engineering capabilities to maintain the aircraft.
Some engineers from other Tata Group carriers, such as Vistara and AirAsia India, have already received training on the A350 plane at an Airbus facility. While engineers handle routine maintenance of Tata Group carrier aircraft in India, planes are often sent overseas for any extensive MRO services. Until other MRO companies in India offer services for the A350, Air India will have to rely on its own engineers. A source was quoted as saying,
“No Indian MRO has the ability and approval to carry out maintenance for A350 planes currently. No one will invest in that until there is a long-term business commitment from an airline.”
Air India hasn’t operated Airbus widebody aircraft in many years. It has selected some of its most experienced Airbus A320 pilots for a cross-crew qualification course to operate the A350. According to businessline, four pilots have already undergone training in Singapore.
Because of cockpit compatibility, A320 pilots are being selected as the initial batch of pilots to operate the A350, but Air India will eventually also select some of its Boeing pilots to train for it.
The airline is also busy selecting its cabin crew members for the new aircraft. It is conducting written tests and interviews and will narrow down the candidates based on merit. This is the first time Air India has introduced a written assessment and interview for something like this.
18/07/2023 Gaurav Joshi/Simple Flying
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