Confident of overcoming crisis: Akasa Air pilots contradict airline

Akasa Air pilots have expressed confidence to overcome the ongoing crisis. This comes a day after the carrier told the Delhi High Court that it is in a “state of crisis” and “may shut down” following the abrupt resignations of 43 pilots.

The airline’s pilots said they were not worried about the airline shutting shop anytime soon.

The pilots noted that they were optimistic about the airline’s ongoing operations. Moreover, they expressed confidence in the carrier's management to handle the crisis surrounding pilot resignations.  

An Akasa pilot said that the resignation of 43 pilots cannot shut down operations of the airline, which maintains a fleet of 20 B737 Max aircraft.  

“I cannot speak for other pilots but if you ask me, I have no fear of the airline shutting down. The resignation of 40-odd pilots cannot bring down an airline. It is the management’s call on how to handle this situation,” said a captain at the airline, while speaking to Business Standard.

The captain added that the airline was “fairly young” and “performing well”, which cemented the pilots’ confidence in the carrier.  

Pilots have left Akasa to join rival airlines, primarily the Tata Group-run Air India Express.

“Shortage of pilots is an issue that the airline industry has faced for decades. As a team of planners, we are prepared for unforeseen circumstances and have contingency management strategies in place. We have a 10-year plan that covers pilot recruitment, training and internal career upgrades.

In fact, as of today, we have enough pilots at various phases of their training to fly over 30 aircraft,” Akasa Air's spokesperson said.

The abrupt resignation of pilots, who did not serve their mandatory notice period of six months (for first officers) or one year (for captains) had forced the airline to cancel 600 flights in August.

Akasa, which operates around 120 flights a day, is expecting to cancel 600-700 flights in September if the resignations continue.

A first officer said that pilots voluntarily stepped in and offered to fill the void to soften the impact of the exits on flight cancellations.

“We did face some hiccups in August with the cancellations of some flights. However, to mitigate any immediate impact on flights, some of our pilots stepped in to fill in those vacant (flight) blocks keeping in mind the flight duty time limitation (FDTL) norms. This was done on a voluntary basis,” said a first officer at the airline.  

The first officer quoted above also noted that the airline was sufficiently protected from pilot shortages.

“Any flight requires around 12 pilots, which includes those on stand-by and those who are flying. At Akasa, that number is pegged at 20.

The airline is hiring, the training process is smooth, and we have plans to go international by the end of this year. So, there is nothing for us to fear,” the first officer added.

Another pilot said that he expected the airline to resume full-fledged operations by November-end.

However, the pilot said that while there was no cause for concern at the moment, the future of an airline cannot be predicted.

Akasa's market share slipped from 5.2 per cent in July to 4.2 per cent in August, following the flight cancellations, according to DGCA data.

Currently, the airline is seeking significant compensation from each pilot, reaching crores. It is citing “operational losses” and damage to the airline's reputation, due to the flight cancellations resulting from their departures.

On Wednesday, Akasa’s counsel told the high court that replacing pilots was not a quick and easy process and that it takes around seven to eight months to train them in the first place.