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Friday, 25 July 2014

Unique talent: Air hostesses to turn pilots at AirAsia

Mumbai: In his latest visit to India, AirAsia founder Tony Fernandes pointed to an airhostess and announced the company will help her "realise her dream" of becoming a pilot. By his side sat AirAsia India CEO Mittu Chandilya, a former model, and among the audience was India finance chief Vijay Gopalan, who has previously sung for and acted in Tamil movies.

While, AirAsia India's fate in a turbulent sky of cut-throat competition is unknown, its quirky hiring has certainly caught the industry's attention. "It's true AirAsia has made some unusual choices," said Manish Sabharwal, chairman of staffing firm Teamlease Services. "This is something that AirAsia does globally too, and a different pair of eyes always makes things interesting," he added. Out-of-the-box appointments across the board have been integral to the AirAsia story, almost as much as its aggressive fares.

Bo Lingam, Air Asia's chief of operations, Kathleen Tan, its former regional commercial director, and Tassapon Bijleveld, CEO of Thai AirAsia, have all joined the airline from Warner Music International, the music company that Fernandes quit as Southeast Asian regional vice-president to launch AirAsia back in 1993. The airline abounds with stories of ground staff elevated to the levels of cabin crew and pilots.
Read news in full 23/04/14 Anirban Chowdhury/Economic Times

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