Air India mega deal with Boeing, Airbus to create 2 lakh jobs in India

The latest mega deal between Tata-owned Air India and aircraft makers Boeing and Airbus will create over 2,00,000 jobs in India, directly and indirectly, according to top aviation sector experts. Under the deal, Air India, which currently has a fleet of 140 planes, will buy 470 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus. 

The experts explained to Business Today that the deal would result in a flurry of jobs in the Indian aviation sector as the airline would require operational staff and employees for ancillary roles.  

Mark Martin, the CEO of Martin Consulting, a firm with expertise in the aviation sector, told Business Today, “There are two aspects to the kinds of jobs that will be created, direct employment and indirect employment. The total direct plus indirect jobs created for a narrow-body aircraft is around 400. And for a wide body plane, it is around 600-700.”

Martin further broke down this number and explained, “Direct Employment will include those who are directly employed by the airline, for example, pilots, cabin crew, all technical and non-technical staff. This is around 175 for a narrow-body aircraft. And adding indirect people i.e. external to the company, supporting the aircraft including airport staff, air traffic controllers, transport vendors, service providers, and others, this number comes up to 400 for a narrow body plane.”

For a wide-body plane, the aviation sector expert said, “Direct employment in case of widebody is around 250 to 300 and after including indirect employment, this number can go up to 600 to 700.”

“By extrapolating this data, one can conclude that the jobs created would be around 2,02,000 to 2,09,000,” he said.

Jitender Bhargava, former executive director of Air India, echoed these views. 

He said, “Air India will need experienced pilots, cabin crew members, maintenance engineers, ground crew, etc. But most importantly, this deal would mean flights would now reach locations that are not yet connected via airways. This would give a boost to infrastructure as well as tourism in that location.”

It is also worth noting that in a now-deleted LinkedIn post, Air India chief commercial and transformation officer Nipun Aggarwal disclosed that the deal with the aircraft manufacturers was for 840 planes out of which 470 had been ordered and 370 were in options.

“The order comprises of 470 firm aircraft, 370 options, and purchase rights to be procured from Airbus and Boeing over the next decade,” Aggarwal’s deleted post read.

Bhargava explained that these “370 options” meant that Air India could purchase 370 aircraft at the same rate at which the 470 aircraft were bought. 

“The options in the deal means that the airline has frozen the price. This means it can buy 370 aircraft at the same price at which it bought the 470 aircraft,” the aviation sector expert said.

Sources told Business Today that the aircraft were sold to the airline at a discounted price.

Jobs will be created not just in India, but also in the US. Soon after Air India announced the deal, US President Joe Biden hailed it as historic and said the partnership would create millions of jobs in the US. 

French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also welcomed the deal since it would be instrumental for their respective country’s aviation sectors.

Meanwhile, the Congress Party's Manish Tewari claimed that the deal would create zero jobs in India.

Also Read: Meet N Chandrasekaran's super team who sealed Air India's deal with Airbus, Boeing - BusinessToday

Also Read: Is Air India's mega deal with Airbus and Boeing of 470 or 840 aircraft? - BusinessToday