Tata-owned Air India hires over 3,800 employees in six months

Air India announced on Thursday that, as part of the initiative under its five-year transformation plan, it had hired more than 3,800 staff across crew and other roles and had implemented more than 29 new employee policies in the previous six months.

Tata group-owned Air India is investing $200 million in information technology systems and committed to investing $400 million to refurbish existing aircraft. It has also placed orders for 470 planes.

The loss-making airline said that it's focusing on "addressing legacy issues of the airline at scale and laying the foundation for future growth”. The airline officials added that the second phase, 'Take Off' which will focus on developing the platforms, processes and systems needed to build toward excellence, has commenced.

Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson said the first six months of the transformation journey had made great strides in tackling many issues built up over the years, and the airline has come a long way in establishing foundations for growth.

"Our record-setting aircraft order, the commitment of $400 million to completely refurbish existing aircraft, the investment of $200 million in new IT, and the recruitment of literally thousands of staff are but a few of the significant investments being made to restore Air India to the upper echelons of global aviation, ” Wilson said in a release.

"As we move into our Take Off phase, we will start seeing these investments bear fruit," he added.

The second phase will also see AirAsia India and Air India Express amalgamation. The Low-Cost Carrier (LCC) entity has already merged their core reservations platforms, websites, and customer-facing systems.

The release states, "Vistara will also be merged with Air India following the grant of regulatory approval. The development of a world-class training academy will also take shape as also the future direction and configuration of the airline's line and base maintenance."

The airline also rolled out over 29 new policies across employees to improve welfare, designed new remuneration programs for legacy staff and "onboarded more than 3,800 employees across crew and other functions to support capability and growth," the release said.

The release added that Air India attained the highest-ever single-day passenger revenue, highest-ever cargo revenue, highest-ever ancillary revenue, and highest-ever load factor.

Comprehensive spares and support agreements have been reached to improve worldwide reliability, and a performance improvement programme is underway with Boeing to improve the reliability of 787 planes.

"In-flight Entertainment (IFE) systems have been restored to working order on nearly all first and business-class seats, with economy seats being up to nearly 90 per cent," the release said.

The airline has also reactivated more than 10 codeshare agreements and in active alliance discussions with other airlines.

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