NEW DELHI: Air India will now be able to hire 800 additional cabin crew to meet the acute shortage that has been adversely affecting its operations and on-time performance, with the government clearing a proposal of the airline.
"The Civil Aviation Ministry has given its go-ahead to an Air India proposal to 800 hire more cabin crew as it has been facing an acute shortage of such staff," official sources said today.
The carrier has now begun conducting walk-in interviews across major cities to hire the additional crew, they said.
Air India has currently over 2,500 cabin crew, including the executive officers, to man a fleet of 100 planes.
The airline had cancelled 763 flights between June and November last year, the Ministry had told Parliament last month. 6,513 flights were also delayed.
In reply to a question, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma had said the carrier cancelled 75 flights in June, 178 in July, 347 in August, 189 in September, 115 in October and 159 in November this year as per DGCA record.