Air India's Pilot Shortage

Air India's pilots are livid. They shot off a letter to their CEO with a list of complaints. The airline has only 1,600 pilots for its 114 aircrafts. It needs at least 1,850 pilots when you're taken to account the rotational shifts and rest and emergencies that inevitably crop up. But despite all this, Air India is hell bent on expanding its fleet. In 2021, the Indian Aviation Regulator issued 862 commercial pilot licenses and in 2022 it rose to 1,081. Only 200 pilots retire annually so we'll find it hard to keep up with demand.