Air India taps IAF for pilots: report

BY A CORRESPONDENT
7th January 2006

Air India is requesting the Indian Air Force to provide it with pilots to take to its cockpits, a report in The Indian Express says. As per the report, Indian Air Force has agreed to release its trained pilots to Air India, "provided there is a surplus." However, Indian Air Force itself is seen as not having enough pilots to fly its planes.

With the upcoming fleet expansion, Air India will need a fresh bunch of pilots. Air India has recently finalised a long-pending fleet expansion, to buy Boeing planes for Rs 35000 crore.

Two years back, ten Indian Air Force pilots had joined Air India to man its flights. Indian Express quoted Air Marshal P S Ahluwalia as saying, ‘The Indian Air Force has the maximum trained pilots, who are ready to go into any cockpit. We can be of some assistance as civil aviation is a national asset.’’

As and when the new aircraft are inducted into the Air India fleet, the airline will face an increasing strain to fill up vacancies for its pilots and cabin crew.