The government is unlikely to go for any dilution of its stake in national carrier Air India in the near future and divestment may be “looked at” once the airline improves its balance sheet.

Noting that Air India has seen a marked improvement in its on-time performance, which is being monitored by the Civil Aviation Ministry on a day-to-day basis in the last few weeks, highly-placed sources said that the reason for flight delays like shortage of flight and cabin crew is being addressed by the management.

State-owned carrier Air India (AI), which began its recruitment process recently, is finding it hard to get the right kind of candidates, compelling it to re-advertise its requirement for 197 commander and senior trainee pilots.

A spokesperson of the national flag carrier said there were just not enough qualified candidates available in the market.

The union of Air India pilots, Indian Commercial Pilots Association, has directed its members not to operate flights with commanders which the airline proposes to hire on contract.

The Association, which represents pilots on narrow body Airbus A320 fleet has also asked the management to withdraw the recruitment advertisement. Last week, the airline had announced it would hire 197 pilots including commanders and senior trainee pilots for its Airbus A320 fleet.

An Air India pilots union has directed its members not to operate flights with commanders which the airline proposes to hire on contract.

The Indian Commercial Pilots Association which represents pilots on narrow body Airbus A320 fleet also has asked the management to withdraw the recruitment advertisement. Last week the airline announced it will hire 197 pilots including commanders and senior trainee pilots for its Airbus A320 fleet.

Air India (AI) is hiring nearly 200 pilots for its Airbus A320 planes, to meet a shortage caused by resignations, transfer of pilots to Boeing 787s and delays in training junior pilots for the rank of commander.

Government-owned AI has 60 Airbus A320 aircraft in various configurations and deploys these on the domestic network. A shortage of pilots and cabin crew is one reason for flight delays, the carrier's on-time performance being the lowest among its peers.

The government plans to set up an expert panel to find ways to improve Air India’s performance but presently no proposal is being considered for its privatisation, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati said today.

“Setting up of an expert committee to suggest ways to further improve the performance of Air India is under consideration,” he said.

Air India is alleged to have been “compromising” with flight safety norms by using a DGCA waiver on minimum cabin crew requirement on some of its long haul flights, a charge denied by the national carrier.

Air India, which is facing acute shortage of cabin crew, declares one door ‘unserviceable’ on some of its long-haul flights, which lowers the crew requirement. And it happens mainly on flights to New York and Chicago, where it operates most of its flights with 11 crew as against a requirement of 14, crew members, who requested anonymity, said here.

NEW DELHI: It took a crippling cabin crew shortage for Air India to realize the extent to which it has been underutilizing its precious human resource.

Aviation safety rules stipulate that an airhostess pilot must stop flying as soon as she reports to the airline that she is pregnant. While all private airlines give women flight crew the option of shifting to ground duties, AI has all along been sending them on long maternity leave as soon as they report pregnancy.

Pilots and cabin crew members of Air India are posing “significant security risk” by exiting the Mumbai Airport without customs check, the national carrier has been told by the Customs Department after two of its employees were allegedly caught smuggling gold.

Officials recently caught two Air India crew members while they were allegedly smuggling three kgs of gold worth over Rs 78 lakh on a domestic flight, the department has informed the airline.

NEW DELHI: An over 16 percent growth in its passenger traffic helped national carrier Air India improve its ticket revenue by 8.4 per cent, which stood at Rs 1,500 crore in January over the period last year, an airline official said today.

Meanwhile, the carrier has also lined up sumptuous Indian cuisines, named after popular cricketers, to cater to its passengers on its flights to Australia for ICC World Cup there.

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