Air India Express to recruit 50 pilots, 30 commanders in a year

To expedite the training of the existing trainee co-pilots, it was decided to hire pilot instructors from abroad.

These foreign pilot instructors will not only enhance the strength of the existing commanders, but will also ensure that the trainee co pilots complete their training soon, D'souza said.

Instructions have also been given to upgrade the senior commanders as instructor pilots, he said.

The strength of trainer commanders will be increased from the present four to 13. The board also decided to augment the existing number of officers at the AIE Corporate Headquarters at Kochi.

Senior level officers from operations, flight safety, commercial, finance and flight coordination will be based at Kochi.

A customer service unit and Airport services group are being set up and a call centre based in Kerala will be operational in the first quarter, Captain Singh said.

Stressing the need to accelerate the training process of co-pilots, he said due to the shortage of trainers, training was taking a long time.

On complaints from Gulf passengers of frequent delay, Singh said "our effort is to ensure our schedule integrity.

But if delays and cancellations are due to any contingencies, beyond our control, passengers would be informed," he said.

ALSO READ

US court dismisses human rights violation case against Punjab CM

'Indian Cinema's success lies in cinematic approach'

COAI plans to seek cancellation of 19 GSM permits of Tata Tele

Local search engine Just Dial's Rs 950-cr IPO opens tomorrow