Low cost carrier (LCC) SpiceJet may have come a full circle from its troubled days when it was witnessing an exodus of pilots, cabin crew and other staff. The airline, which saw exit of 100 pilots when uncertainty had gripped the carrier till this February, is now going to hire an equal number of pilots.
"We have 20 Boeing 737s and 14 Bombardiers. While the lease of three B-737s will end shortly and they will go back, we are going to have 27 737s by the start of the October-December peak travel period. And, the airline has begun preparations for fleet expansion by hiring people," said an official.
The LCC, which has 400 pilots, will start the process of hiring pilots from next Monday. "We will hire about 100 pilots, 50 commanders and as many co-pilots. We will also hire 200-odd cabin crew and flight engineers," said SpiceJet HR head Kiran Koteshwar. SpiceJet was facing massive uncertainty till mid-February when its co-founder Ajay Singh returned at the helm of the airline. Previous promoter Sun TV chief Kalanithi Maran had refused to pump in any more money into the loss-making airline. As a result, the LCC saw its staff strength fall from 5,500 to about 4,000 from last November — when leasers started taking back planes due to non-payment, leading to a smaller fleet and fewer daily flights.
With Singh back in SpiceJet, people who had quit are now making a beeline to return. Singh had made it clear that he would give first opportunity of joining to those, who had either quit or had been laid off during the airline's difficult days. Singh is expected to infuse about Rs 1,000 crore by mid-May, with Rs 550 crore already pumped in after he took over earlier this year.
- TOI
"We have 20 Boeing 737s and 14 Bombardiers. While the lease of three B-737s will end shortly and they will go back, we are going to have 27 737s by the start of the October-December peak travel period. And, the airline has begun preparations for fleet expansion by hiring people," said an official.
The LCC, which has 400 pilots, will start the process of hiring pilots from next Monday. "We will hire about 100 pilots, 50 commanders and as many co-pilots. We will also hire 200-odd cabin crew and flight engineers," said SpiceJet HR head Kiran Koteshwar. SpiceJet was facing massive uncertainty till mid-February when its co-founder Ajay Singh returned at the helm of the airline. Previous promoter Sun TV chief Kalanithi Maran had refused to pump in any more money into the loss-making airline. As a result, the LCC saw its staff strength fall from 5,500 to about 4,000 from last November — when leasers started taking back planes due to non-payment, leading to a smaller fleet and fewer daily flights.
With Singh back in SpiceJet, people who had quit are now making a beeline to return. Singh had made it clear that he would give first opportunity of joining to those, who had either quit or had been laid off during the airline's difficult days. Singh is expected to infuse about Rs 1,000 crore by mid-May, with Rs 550 crore already pumped in after he took over earlier this year.
- TOI
