Air India group airlines have recruited and onboarded as many as 650 pilots since April this year, according to Air India CEO Campbell Wilson.

Additionally, Air India’s widebody Boeing 777 fleet will be expanded in the first week of this month with the addition of two more B777s, one of which has already been added to the fleet, which will help the airline improve its flights to the US and increase capacity increase, he said. The Air India Group comprises Air India’s full service offering and its two wholly owned subsidiaries – Air India Express and AIX Connect (formerly AirAsia India).

Last year Air India announced its plans to lease 11 B777s – six B777-300ERs and five B777-200-LRs – primarily to operate its flights on North American routes. He also said two of the three long-decommissioned Boeing 787s have also returned to service.

Significantly, the DGCA has temporarily suspended all training at Air India’s facilities in Mumbai and Hyderabad after finding certain “failures” in a spot check. The Mumbai facility provides training for Boeing fleet pilots and the Hyderabad facility is used for training on operating the Airbus A320 family narrowbody fleet.

“The Group Hiring Cell (GHC) has successfully recruited and onboarded more than 650 pilots since April 1,” Wilson said in his weekly message to Air India staff. GHC is the airline’s first integrated, AOC (Air Operator Certificate) and cross-functional team.

Executives from the three airlines have come together to recruit pilots en masse, he said, adding that recruitment is (still) ongoing. In addition, “two new Boeing 777 aircraft were added to our fleet in the first week of September and this week – the fifth and sixth so far this year,” Campbell said.

One of those two aircraft is the 777-200LR, which will be used on North American routes, which he says will allow Air India to upgrade more frequencies in San Francisco and New York with a premium economy class. The other is the first of six new B777-300ERs to be deployed to expand capacity on other routes, he said.