
Dozens of pilots, many from crisis-hit Go First, were seen at a Tata group hotel near Delhi on Thursday for walk-in interviews with the conglomerate's Air India airline, said a report on Thursday.
Go First's announcement on Tuesday that it had filed for bankruptcy came as a shock to many employees.
"It is very disheartening, the airline was functioning as if everything was normal," a pilot, who joined Go First two years ago and was waiting in a long line at Tata's Taj Hotel, told Reuters. "We have to jump ship in order to keep our flying licences current."
While Air India, Vistara and the country's biggest airline IndiGo have conducted similar hiring drives in the past, Reuters said turnout was larger than normal. They attributed the numbers to the plight of Go First, formerly known as Go Airlines (India) Ltd, which has around 7,000 employees.
Air India said on Twitter the hiring drive in Delhi and Mumbai would be extended by a day to Friday.
The airline, bought back from the government last year by salt-to-software Tata group, plans to hire more than 4,200 cabin crew and 900 pilots this year as part of a major revamp which also includes orders for a record 470 jets.
An Air India spokesperson told Reuters it had received more than 700 applications in response to an advert last week for pilots, which it is currently processing.
Go First's CEO said earlier this week the airline is committed to its employees and is working tirelessly to get its operations back on track.
A planned merger of Air India with Vistara and the launch of Akasa Air have increased competition for staff and planes as the industry recovers.
Vistara held walk-in interviews for cabin crew in Delhi and Mumbai on Thursday, and sought online applications from pilots.
"Vistara has been a dream airline to work with, ever since I took one of its flights a few years ago," said a 27-year-old member of Go First's cabin crew.
"Plus, with the Tatas, our future would be secure."
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Thursday reserved its order on crisis-hit airline Go First's plea seeking voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings.
A two-member bench headed by President Justice Ramalingam Sudhakar concluded the day-long hearing during which the Wadia group-controlled airline sought initiation of insolvency resolution proceedings and an interim moratorium on its financial obligations.
However, aircraft lessors opposed the airline's request saying that insolvency proceedings cannot be initiated without hearing them.
Senior Advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, representing Go First, said the objective of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) is to ensure that a company is a going concern and not ground it.
Cash-strapped Go First has cancelled flights till May 9.
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