Air India spends 10% of total salary spend on expat pilots

Mumbai/New Delhi: In some ways the Air India 'Maharaja' has indeed been behaving like one - it now transpires that the debt-burdened flag carrier has been spending around 10 per cent of its total salary bill to pay its team of over 160 foreign pilots and hiring firms.

According to reports, facts unveiled through access to a Right to Information (RTI) application, Air India's holding company NACIL paid Rs93.29 crore towards salaries and costs to recruitment firms which provided expatriate pilots to Air India and Air India Express last fiscal.

Of this amount, Air India paid Rs46.63 crore ($9,327,644.23) while its low fare arm, Air India Express, spent Rs46.66 crore ($9,333,732.11) on expat pilots and recruitment agencies during the period.

In a departure from international practise, where large airlines do their own recruiting, Air India hires pilots through placement firms like Rishworth Aviation Ltd.

According to available figures, the carrier has 163 expatriate pilots on its rosters, besides 1,253 Indian pilots and about 200 trainees. It has total staff strength of 30,505.

In a desperate bid to raise its meagre capital base, the airline is seeking infusion of equity from the central government, which owns the airline. It is also looking to raise funds for working capital.