IndiGo bucks trend, plans to hire 50 pilots

Mumbai: IndiGo, the country’s largest budget carrier, has decided to hire nearly 50 pilots for its Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune and Jaipur operations.
When contacted, IndiGo president Aditya Ghosh confirmed the development to ET. “We are looking to hire 30-50 captains. These are near-term requirements and we will complete the process in the coming weeks,” Mr Ghosh said.
Delhi-based IndiGo will pay around Rs 5 lakh per month to the pilots, including accommodation allowance, depending on the experience and positions of them.The country’s third largest carrier employs 228 pilots for its fleet of 19. Of this, 104 pilots are also CAT III qualified and trained.
The airline needs more pilots as it plans to increase the number of flights over the next fiscal and raise frequency at Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai sectors. The airline plans to add 30 destinations in the country by 2010. It has more than 100 flights, connecting 20 destinations and controls 14.7% market share.
The fresh recruitment of pilots by IndiGo comes at a time when Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways had asked their pilots, among others, to leave. Jet had offered a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) to more than 300 staff.
The airline, which started in 2006 with a single Airbus A-320 aircraft, has no plans to defer the delivery of its 100 Airbus order. The domestic airline industry is expected to double its fleet size to 600 aircraft by 2010. With crude oil prices falling to $45 per barrel from its all time high of $147 a barrel in June, budget airlines are back in business and increasing capacities and reducing fares to increase business.
10/01/09 Mithun Roy/Economic Times