Airlines step up hiring to drive growth as demand recovers, costs ease

IndiGo to hire 5,000-6,000 employees in FY24; Akasa Air will add 1,000 staff; Air India said it will recruit 5,100 staff including 900 pilots and 4200 trainee crew

Domestic airlines are stepping up hiring as they continue to expand networks within India and overseas.

IndiGo, India’s largest domestic airline plans to hire 5,000-6,000 employees in FY 2024 while six-month Akasa Air will add about 1,000 staff on its rolls in the coming fiscal. Last week Air India said it will recruit 5,100 staff including 900 pilots and 4,200 trainee crew.

The ramp up in recruitment comes in the backdrop of a strong recovery in passenger demand, easing cost pressure and favourable growth outlook.

While IndiGo will have a gross addition of 50 aircraft to its 300-plus fleet, Akasa will add nine planes and will have 28 aircraft by March 2024.

“We have come out of the pandemic stronger on the back of our dedicated workforce. We have been hiring since last year as we expanded operations across multiple domestic and international stations. In FY23, we have seen a net growth in workforce by over 5,000 to about 32,000 employees. We plan to increase our strength by 5,000-6,000 people in FY24. Our current hiring efforts are broad-based and cover several functional roles,” said an IndiGo spokesperson.

IndiGo is targeting international destinations such as Jakarta, Nairobi and cities in Central Asia, besides expanding its presence in the domestic market.

Akasa Air, which began operations last August, has 18 Boeing 737 Max aircraft from its initial 72 aircraft order. The 19th plane will also arrive this month. It is in talks with both Airbus and Boeing for a three-digit aircraft order that it plans to finalise later this year.

Akasa Air chief executive officer Vinay Dube said the airline has 2,000 employees at present. “By the end of the next fiscal we will be close to 3,000 employees. We will be hiring 300 pilots in 12 months,” Dube stated. It will also hire cabin crew, engineers and staff in airport operations.

“We are creating an employee-centric organization and offer our staff better work-leave patterns, easy access to transport among other things. Hiring has not been a challenge for us,” Dube asserted.

In the six months since its Akasa Air has flown one million passengers. The airline has focused on Bengaluru and with 36 daily flights it is the third largest domestic airline in the city.