[ad_1]
NEW DELHI: “India has space for multiple well-run airlines.” Vinay Dube, founder-CEO of Akasa that started flying last August, has told TOI as the low cost carrier prepares for the next round of growth. Akasa has 19 aircraft in its fleet and will soon hit the 20 mark (from the original order of 72 Boeing 737 MAX) that will make it eligible to fly abroad. It is planning its next order which will be in triple digits. Dube says international flights will start in this October-December quarter and that outflow of pilots from India to the Gulf will slow as the Indian aviation industry matures. Excerpts.
Q. You have the mega IndiGo on one hand and the Tata Group re-aligning its four airlines under Air India brand. What positioning do you see for other airlines in India?
Answer: As a country we have space for multiple well-run airlines. I look at US, Europe and the number and types of airlines across the board that they can support profitability. In India the landscape is still wide open. If there are two (big) airline groups, that is nothing. The country can support many more and that’s where we fit in with a highly competitive cost structure and yet a good product with an unparalleled experience for customers.
Q. Given the massive aircraft orders, what is trained manpower availability in India? Do you see a crunch there?
Answer: I don’t believe the situation is bad. I am happy for airline employees. Demand has picked up, airlines are recruiting. We don’t have any difficulties hiring pilots, engineers, flight attendants and other airline staff. We remain competitive for compensation and benefits we offer.
People make a deal out of pilot shortage and those kinds of things. But they forget 3,000-3,500 pilot licenses were issued (by India) in 2019-22. Most of them haven’t found jobs as of now. We have got a tonne of pilot applications, many more than we can (recruit). The pilot applications we have got is a mix of new and experienced pilots. (Akasa recently hiked pilot pay).
Q. Given the demand for pilots in India, do you see a reversal of the trend of Indian pilots going to the Gulf to fly there?
Answer: Indian pilots have historically flown in the Gulf and they will fly in the Gulf. I don’t see an exodus one way or the other.
Some will continue to go, some will continue to come back. As the Indian aviation business continues to mature, fewer and fewer people (Indian pilots) will go abroad because they will get professional well paid jobs right here and realise they can earn well enough without being away from their families for long periods of time. So clearly the outflow will slow and there will be a lower equilibrium of outflow. India has been a net exporter of talent across every vertical and there will always be some pilots going abroad.
Q. You will soon hit the 20-aircraft mark. What are the plans to fly abroad?
Answer: We will launch international flights before end of this year. We don’t want to launch in April or May. We think the best time for us to launch will be in the October-December period. It’s a crossroads of when we can do it versus when is the best time to do it. (As far as destinations abroad go) I don’t know if there are any bilaterals available for Dubai. At this point I will stick to range of aircraft which is 5-5.5 hours and cover the edges of middle East, Northeast Africa and Southeast Asia. Haven’t narrowed our international network down and doing so based on bilaterals and slot availability at both the Indian and international airports.
Q. The DGCA has approved a summer schedule for 22,907 weekly domestic flights this year, as opposed to 25,309 in summer of 2022. Do you see less flights operating this summer?
Answer: I look at actuals versus schedule. The industry has come off two to three years of what was being sold not being flown. If you were to move the clock forward to when the summer schedule ends (on October 28), I am confident what is flown is an increase over last year.
Q. You have the mega IndiGo on one hand and the Tata Group re-aligning its four airlines under Air India brand. What positioning do you see for other airlines in India?
Answer: As a country we have space for multiple well-run airlines. I look at US, Europe and the number and types of airlines across the board that they can support profitability. In India the landscape is still wide open. If there are two (big) airline groups, that is nothing. The country can support many more and that’s where we fit in with a highly competitive cost structure and yet a good product with an unparalleled experience for customers.
Q. Given the massive aircraft orders, what is trained manpower availability in India? Do you see a crunch there?
Answer: I don’t believe the situation is bad. I am happy for airline employees. Demand has picked up, airlines are recruiting. We don’t have any difficulties hiring pilots, engineers, flight attendants and other airline staff. We remain competitive for compensation and benefits we offer.
People make a deal out of pilot shortage and those kinds of things. But they forget 3,000-3,500 pilot licenses were issued (by India) in 2019-22. Most of them haven’t found jobs as of now. We have got a tonne of pilot applications, many more than we can (recruit). The pilot applications we have got is a mix of new and experienced pilots. (Akasa recently hiked pilot pay).
Q. Given the demand for pilots in India, do you see a reversal of the trend of Indian pilots going to the Gulf to fly there?
Answer: Indian pilots have historically flown in the Gulf and they will fly in the Gulf. I don’t see an exodus one way or the other.
Some will continue to go, some will continue to come back. As the Indian aviation business continues to mature, fewer and fewer people (Indian pilots) will go abroad because they will get professional well paid jobs right here and realise they can earn well enough without being away from their families for long periods of time. So clearly the outflow will slow and there will be a lower equilibrium of outflow. India has been a net exporter of talent across every vertical and there will always be some pilots going abroad.
Q. You will soon hit the 20-aircraft mark. What are the plans to fly abroad?
Answer: We will launch international flights before end of this year. We don’t want to launch in April or May. We think the best time for us to launch will be in the October-December period. It’s a crossroads of when we can do it versus when is the best time to do it. (As far as destinations abroad go) I don’t know if there are any bilaterals available for Dubai. At this point I will stick to range of aircraft which is 5-5.5 hours and cover the edges of middle East, Northeast Africa and Southeast Asia. Haven’t narrowed our international network down and doing so based on bilaterals and slot availability at both the Indian and international airports.
Q. The DGCA has approved a summer schedule for 22,907 weekly domestic flights this year, as opposed to 25,309 in summer of 2022. Do you see less flights operating this summer?
Answer: I look at actuals versus schedule. The industry has come off two to three years of what was being sold not being flown. If you were to move the clock forward to when the summer schedule ends (on October 28), I am confident what is flown is an increase over last year.
#Dube #Outflow #Indian #pilots #Gulf #slow #Akasas #Vinay #Dube
