Tata-backed Air India is gearing up to introduce a wide range of new services, including a new colour scheme, cabin décor, crew uniforms, and insignia as part of a rebranding process, reveals Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Campbell Wilson. Although a female mascot might also be added, the airline’s current mascot, The Maharajah, is still in the plans. To address the issue, which has resulted in the cancellation of six weekly flights to the US for the past three months, Air India has also announced intentions to hire 4200 cabin crew and 900 pilots in 2023.
As part of the measures under its five-year transformation plan, Air India onboarded more than 3,800 people earlier this month across crew and other operations and implemented more than 29 new policies for employees in the last six months.
On Monday, Air India is also anticipated to reveal new remuneration plans for its pilots and cabin employees. A new rostering system will also soon be implemented, according to Wilson, which will promote “transparency, fairness, equity, roster stability, protection of golden offs [five-day offs on birthdays and wedding anniversaries] and reduce fatigue.” As several airlines, including Air India Express, Vistara, and AirAsia India, are being consolidated under the larger Air India Group, another important topic that is being examined is the seniority for pilots.
The pilots were against the management’s proposal to create a master seniority list that is calculated on a “ratio basis” because they believed that it would benefit pilots from airlines like Air India Express and Vistara, who had received promotions earlier than others.
Loss-making Air India, which has been operated by the Tata Group since January of last year, has pledged to invest $400 million to totally refurbish its current fleet of aircraft in addition to $200 million in information technology systems. In addition, it has placed orders for 470 aircraft.
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