Akasa has enough pilots; will ensure there are no cancellations: CEO

Seeking to assuage pilot shortage concerns, Akasa Air’s chief executive Vinay Dube on Friday said the carrier has sufficient pilots and flyers should not expect any flight cancellations.

Photograph: Akasa Air/X

“We have plenty of pilots. We have given numbers like 700 in the past.

“I don’t think this is something from an Akasa perspective people need to worry about because we have got this plan in place where we have pilots not just for our current set of aircraft but we have got pilots for the foreseeable future in terms of growth,” Dube told PTI at the sidelines of a CII event.

The overall employee strength of the company is 3,700, he said.

“There is no reduction of flights. People should not be worried that Akasa has published a schedule that they are not going to be flying.

“We have had the lowest cancellation rates in the industry and there is no plan for us to change that going forward,” he added.

Amid the worldwide concerns on the Boeing 737 aircraft, on which the nearly two-year-old airliner has a heavy reliance, Dube termed it a “great aircraft”.

“It is one of the most modern, fuel-efficient aircraft in the world and we are extremely pleased with it,” he said.

The airliner — which is set to start flying to Doha later this month in what will be its maiden international route — aims to expand on foreign and domestic routes, he said, adding that over 200 aircraft are on order, which will take care of such requirements.

In the last few months alone, it has started flying to destinations like Gwalior, Srinagar, Port Blair and Ayodhya, he added.

On the international route expansion, he said the company is confident of having a network in three years that will take any other company 15-20 years.

Addressing the CII Western Region Annual Meeting here, cigarette maker and consumer goods company ITC’s chairman and managing director Sanjiv Puri said development has to be on the bedrock of inclusive and sustainable growth.

Countries have to focus on “basic necessities”, Puri said, pointing out to the water crisis in Bengaluru and Johannesburg.