New Delhi: More than 20 pilots of Air India's Dreamliner planes are planning to leave the national carrier as many of them seek greener pastures with private airlines.
The development comes at a time when the debt-laden Air India is looking to stem exodus of pilots and has already put in place a system to recover the training cost in case a pilot leaves the airline within five years.
A senior Air India official said more than 20 pilots of its Dreamliner fleet have expressed their intention to quit and some of them have given notices.
However, the notices are yet to be accepted by the carrier, he added.
Many pilots are looking to join private airlines where the service terms are better most of the times.
Air India currently has 21 Dreamliners in its fleet and has so far trained 250 pilots, including those from the single-aisle planes, to enable them to fly these aircraft, since 2012.
Meanwhile, the carrier has asked its Dreamliner pilots to sign a bond which would allow it to recover the training cost in case a pilot decides to quit the airline within at least five years.
Air India spends a whopping Rs 25-60 lakh on the training of each pilot who flies a Boeing 787-8 aircraft.
While those who join the Dreamliner fleet from the wide- body planes (B-777s) are imparted a 4-5 week training, which costs around Rs 25 lakh per pilot, the flight crew coming from the narrow-body planes (A320 family) are given a three-month training at a staggering cost of Rs 60 lakh per pilot.
