Flight Attendants' Jobs Are Being Outsourced To India
By Manik Mehta
NEW YORK, Sept 11 (Bernama) -- In what could well become a normal scenario of
the future for many foreign airlines anxious to cut costs and yet have good
service on their planes, some US-based airlines are thinking of hiring in-flight
crew members from India.
This trend seems to be gaining popularity as a number of countries are
aggressively courting cash-loaded Indian tourists renowned for their obsession
for shopping in foreign countries.
While in the past, an Indian flight attendant made what people would describe as
a cameo appearance in an all-white or native crew, depending on the origin of
the foreign airline, the propensity to hire Indian crew has intensified as more
and more foreign airlines hire Indians to make Indian travellers feel at home in
the plane.
The blond-haired, blue-eyed German stewardess who dominated Germany's Lufthansa
in-flight crew, is now reluctantly making way for the Indian stewardess, as
Indian air-travellers express their preference to be served by Indian
stewardesses whose warmth and personalised touch can offer comfort to the
travellers from the Indian sub-continent.
Lufthansa has been fully exploiting the weakness of India's national carrier Air
India whose high fares combined with inadequate planes and low capacity are
increasingly putting off many travellers to and from India.
In an effort to lure travellers from India, many airlines are increasingly
hiring stewardesses from India.
While the presence of the Indian stewardesses may be a source of "feel-at-home"
comfort for the average Indian, the rationale behind such a move by foreign
airlines lies in prudent economics.
The Atlanta-based Delta Airlines has gone one step further: according to
reports, Delta will become the first airline to have an all-Indian crew for its
India route. Delta has, in fact, just completed training some 80 cabin crew at
its Atlanta hub.
The crew will be deployed on Delta's daily Chennai-New York flights starting May
11, 2006. And, of course, the Delta flights to India serve a variety of Indian
meals to suit the palate of both vegetarians and non-vegetarians.
Aviation analysts say the idea of hiring Indian flight attendants makes more
business sense for Delta which has been in the red and is desperately trying to
cut costs.
The average salary of an Indian flight attendant, according to some experts,
would be the equivalent of about US$700 (including allowances), while the US
counterpart would earn at least three times more than the Indian flight
attendant.
Most other international carriers such as British Airways and Cathay Pacific
have also hired Indian crew for decades but the Indian crew has been deployed
along with a mix of other nationalities.
British Airways, for example, uses three Indian crew members out of a total of
15 on every flight out of Mumbai. The ratio varies for different carriers.
At the other end of the spectrum is Air France which hires and uses only French
crew for its flights all over the world.
Air France does not enjoy much patronage with Indian travellers who find the
on-board service "very French" as some Indians put it not without an element of
sarcasm.
Singapore Airlines, which has introduced flights to a number of Indian cities
outside of the four international airports of Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and
Kolkatta, has also been deploying Indian stewardesses on its planes though it
also uses Singaporean stewardesses of Indian origin on its India routes.
Malaysia Airlines has been using Malaysian stewardesses of Indian origin.
India's domestic airline business is growing at 27 per cent and Indian carriers
are expecting to buy about 200 aircraft in the coming months.
According to projections by Indian analysts, some 40,000 new ground and flying
crew jobs will be created in India in the next few years.
"The Indian airline market is inherent with strong growth potential," a New
York-based analyst said.
Meanwhile, there is also a "reverse trend" noticeable among Indian carriers
which are going global and are also hiring international crew.
Jet Airways, which is aggressively entering the international arena, has hired
about 60 foreign crew from Southeast Asia.
Jet Airways sees Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand as favourite destinations of
Indian travellers whose arrival figures in these countries have increased
sharply.
By Manik Mehta
NEW YORK, Sept 11 (Bernama) -- In what could well become a normal scenario of
the future for many foreign airlines anxious to cut costs and yet have good
service on their planes, some US-based airlines are thinking of hiring in-flight
crew members from India.
This trend seems to be gaining popularity as a number of countries are
aggressively courting cash-loaded Indian tourists renowned for their obsession
for shopping in foreign countries.
While in the past, an Indian flight attendant made what people would describe as
a cameo appearance in an all-white or native crew, depending on the origin of
the foreign airline, the propensity to hire Indian crew has intensified as more
and more foreign airlines hire Indians to make Indian travellers feel at home in
the plane.
The blond-haired, blue-eyed German stewardess who dominated Germany's Lufthansa
in-flight crew, is now reluctantly making way for the Indian stewardess, as
Indian air-travellers express their preference to be served by Indian
stewardesses whose warmth and personalised touch can offer comfort to the
travellers from the Indian sub-continent.
Lufthansa has been fully exploiting the weakness of India's national carrier Air
India whose high fares combined with inadequate planes and low capacity are
increasingly putting off many travellers to and from India.
In an effort to lure travellers from India, many airlines are increasingly
hiring stewardesses from India.
While the presence of the Indian stewardesses may be a source of "feel-at-home"
comfort for the average Indian, the rationale behind such a move by foreign
airlines lies in prudent economics.
The Atlanta-based Delta Airlines has gone one step further: according to
reports, Delta will become the first airline to have an all-Indian crew for its
India route. Delta has, in fact, just completed training some 80 cabin crew at
its Atlanta hub.
The crew will be deployed on Delta's daily Chennai-New York flights starting May
11, 2006. And, of course, the Delta flights to India serve a variety of Indian
meals to suit the palate of both vegetarians and non-vegetarians.
Aviation analysts say the idea of hiring Indian flight attendants makes more
business sense for Delta which has been in the red and is desperately trying to
cut costs.
The average salary of an Indian flight attendant, according to some experts,
would be the equivalent of about US$700 (including allowances), while the US
counterpart would earn at least three times more than the Indian flight
attendant.
Most other international carriers such as British Airways and Cathay Pacific
have also hired Indian crew for decades but the Indian crew has been deployed
along with a mix of other nationalities.
British Airways, for example, uses three Indian crew members out of a total of
15 on every flight out of Mumbai. The ratio varies for different carriers.
At the other end of the spectrum is Air France which hires and uses only French
crew for its flights all over the world.
Air France does not enjoy much patronage with Indian travellers who find the
on-board service "very French" as some Indians put it not without an element of
sarcasm.
Singapore Airlines, which has introduced flights to a number of Indian cities
outside of the four international airports of Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and
Kolkatta, has also been deploying Indian stewardesses on its planes though it
also uses Singaporean stewardesses of Indian origin on its India routes.
Malaysia Airlines has been using Malaysian stewardesses of Indian origin.
India's domestic airline business is growing at 27 per cent and Indian carriers
are expecting to buy about 200 aircraft in the coming months.
According to projections by Indian analysts, some 40,000 new ground and flying
crew jobs will be created in India in the next few years.
"The Indian airline market is inherent with strong growth potential," a New
York-based analyst said.
Meanwhile, there is also a "reverse trend" noticeable among Indian carriers
which are going global and are also hiring international crew.
Jet Airways, which is aggressively entering the international arena, has hired
about 60 foreign crew from Southeast Asia.
Jet Airways sees Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand as favourite destinations of
Indian travellers whose arrival figures in these countries have increased
sharply.
