India’s Akasa Air cuts down schedule after rivals poach pilots

BLOOMBERG

Akasa Air, India’s newest airline, was forced to thin out its schedule after some pilots left and joined bigger competitors.
“In the last thirty days, we have rationalised our network,” Akasa CEO Vinay Dube wrote in an email to employees that was seen by Bloomberg News.
“We have chosen to fly less and give up market share in the short term to offer a more reliable network to our customers.”
A small number of pilots left Akasa without completing a mandatory notice period of six months, causing flight disruptions and last-minute cancellations between July and September, Dube said in the email. The airline is taking legal action against just five pilots, though more have resigned, in the High Court of Bombay, according to people familiar with the matter, who didn’t wish to be identified as the discussions are private.
The market share of Akasa, which began flying in 2022, dropped to 4.2% in August from 5.2% the month before. The low-cost carrier is struggling to compete with IndiGo and Air India Ltd, which together control more than 70% of the market and are expanding at breakneck speed with mammoth aircraft orders.
Akasa has enough pilots, who are at different stages of training, to fly over 30 aircraft, a spokesperson said.
While Akasa has training partnerships with Boeing Co and CAE, it is also developing a cadet program of its own, according to the spokesperson.