Akasa Air, the newest addition to India’s list of airlines, had been flying excessive following its launch final 12 months. Recently, nonetheless, it has hit some turbulence, as dozens of pilots walked out, resulting in a whole bunch of cancelled flights and indignant prospects.

Experts say the problem Akasa is dealing with solely highlights what is about to turn out to be a much bigger problem in India, as airways increase quickly to satisfy rising demand in one of many world’s fastest growing aviation markets – however the availability of skilled employees is failing to maintain tempo.

“Most of the players in the sector have a huge expansion plan, which would require a large base of skilled people including pilots, cabin crew and other operating staff,” says Manish Chowdhury, head of analysis at dealer StoxBox.

“With the pace of supply of pilots lagging the demand in a big way, we expect this scramble for pilots to intensify.”

More than 40 pilots have resigned from Akasa Air previously couple of months to affix different airways, together with Air India Express, which additionally operates Boeing Max 737 planes.

Akasa resorted to suing a few of the departing pilots, with a consultant for the airline saying the workers didn’t serve “their mandatory contractual notice period” and “not only is this illegal but also an unethical and selfish act that disrupted flights, forcing last-minute cancellations that stranded thousands of customers”, in line with a Times of India report.

The High Court of Bombay on Wednesday allowed the airline to proceed with its lawsuit in search of contractual damages from a few of the pilots.

“Akasa Air is facing an unprecedented and unique challenge in the civil aviation industry,” says Jyoti Prakash Gadia, managing director at funding financial institution Resurgent India.

“Unlike the previous instances of funds shortages or technical glitches in the cases of some other airlines, Akasa is facing a crisis situation due to unanticipated resignation of its pilots.

“The civil aviation sector as a whole is thriving and booming in India, with fresh opportunities due to increase in demand after the difficult pandemic period.

“This has led to an apparent shortage of total number of experienced pilots required.”

Following the Covid-19 pandemic, demand for air journey in India has soared.

India’s aviation industry dealt with about 200 million passengers within the monetary 12 months to the top of March, in line with the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (Capa) India.

Rising middle-class incomes on the earth’s most populous nation and the world’s quickest rising main financial system, together with the truth that solely a single-digit proportion of the inhabitants at the moment journey by air, means the sector is anticipated to increase considerably over the approaching years.

Passenger numbers may develop to greater than 1.3 billion yearly within the subsequent 20 years and by 2043, aviation may contribute as much as $1 trillion yearly to the Indian financial system, Capa says.

Akasa Air began operations in August final 12 months.

It was arrange by late Indian billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, who teamed up with former Jet Airways chief government Vinay Dube. Investor Jhunjhunwala, who was 62, died solely days after the airline was launched because of well being points.

The new airline has been billed as an “ultra low-cost carrier”. It has expanded to fly to 16 locations in India, together with Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Goa and Hyderabad.

But it faces fierce competitors, with price range rivals together with IndiGo, SpiceJet and Air India Express well-established out there.

The aviation sector in India is especially robust and has a historical past of failed airways, together with Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines and businessman Naresh Goyal’s Jet Airways.

This 12 months, low-cost provider Go First, India’s fourth-largest airline, filed for bankruptcy and has but to return to the skies after it plunged right into a monetary disaster it blamed on “faulty” engines.

India’s aviation market faces “cut-throat competition, fare wars and structural challenges” together with “the elevating cost of crude oil and jet fuel and depreciating rupee value”, which is why some firms have did not survive, says Nadiya Sarguroh, principal affiliate at MZM Legal.

But additionally it is a market with enormous potential for progress, which is why it’s attracting new entrants, whereas current airways are in search of to increase.

The anticipated demand progress has prompted Indian airways to place in new bulk airplane orders. But discovering skilled employees for these plane is turning into more and more difficult, consultants say.

India would require as much as 18,000 pilots over the following decade – however the Directorate General of Civil Aviation solely registers 600 to 750 business pilot licences a 12 months, in line with estimates from Indian journal Business Today.

“Ideally, the number of pilot licences issued per year would need to be doubled in order to operate the expanded fleet size,” says Sanjay Shetty, director {of professional} search and choice for Randstad India, a human sources consultancy and recruitment company.

He says one issue behind the scarcity is that “a section of the pilot community is unemployable due to inadequate training and qualifications”.

“To tackle the pressing issue of the pilot shortage in India, firstly, substantial investments in upgrading and expanding training infrastructure are essential,” says Mr Shetty.

“Equally important is the recruitment and retention of qualified instructors who can effectively impart industry-relevant skills.”

Indian airways might want to work out the way to handle this downside. One resolution may very well be bringing in additional pilots from overseas, Mr Gadia says.

Outlook for aviation in 2023 – Business Extra

“Considering the expansion plans of various airlines, there is a likelihood of shortage of experienced pilots in the future,” he says.

Some airways are already taking important steps to handle the issue.

Air India, which was formally taken over by Tata Group final 12 months, in February introduced it’s investing in an academy due to the recruitment points within the trade.

The airline has mentioned it plans to rent greater than 4,200 cabin crew and 900 pilots as a part of its growth.

Despite the tough working surroundings, nonetheless, Akasa Air carried out comparatively properly in its first 12 months.

By July, it had captured a 5.2 per cent share of India’s home aviation market, in line with knowledge from India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

In this comparatively brief house of time, the airline had even surpassed one among its rivals, SpiceJet. In August, nonetheless, Akasa’s market share fell to 4.2 per cent, as pilots abandoned the provider.

Akasa gained “recognition in the market with its budget price airfare making it a popular choice for passengers”, Ms Sarguroh says.

The provider is prone to climate the bumpy patch it’s dealing with.

“Though the company is likely to face operational losses and reputational damage, we look at the current event as transitory and believe that the company would emerge stronger post the fiasco,” says Mr Chowdhury.

“Our confidence emanates from the fact that the newbie airline has created a strong footing in the market within a short period of time.

“An airline veteran at the helm of affairs, a strong backing from reputed investors with deep pockets and a significant fleet and network expansion plans should ideally see it sailing the current rough waters.”

Updated: October 02, 2023, 4:30 AM