International budget carrier Air India Express (AIE) may have acquired a series of brand new aircraft but a couple of them are grounded at Mumbai without any pilots to fly them.
Along with parent company Air India,  Air India Express too has been getting new aircraft for its operations, which is mainly to the Gulf.
In May, it had acquired its seventh Boeing 737-800 taking its fleet size to 14 (seven of which are on lease and the rest owned by the airline). Since the time it was acquired, the seventh Boeing is resting though it is a holiday season and the airline wants to make most of the busy spell.
Speaking to Deccan Herald recently in Mumbai, airline’s chief operating office Capt P P Singh admitted that the  problem still exist.
Said Capt Singh: “We are short of cockpit crew. We have 62 foreign pilots and we are continuously recruiting pilots.”
However, the AI’s likely tie-up with the Serbia’s national carrier Jugoslavenski Aerotransport (JAT) may help the grounded aircraft to fly  soon.
Even before the agreement,  about 20 pilots of the JAT have already joined the AIE, ending the low cost airline’s agony.
Tie-up
Air India CMD V Thulasidas said : “The Serbian airline and AI have started to work together. About 20 Jugoslavenski Aerotransport pilots have joined  Air India Expressand additional 10 pilots would join soon. JAT has a good flight training school. We would send our people for training there”.
Capt Singh noted that with the availability of pilots and the aircraft, the AIE, which would have a fleet strength of 25 by next year, would extend the number of flights to the Gulf from June 20 and open up new sectors from July 7.
The  Air India Express would operate on the Dubai-Calicut and link a couple of other Kerala destinations, Bahrain and Doha from that date.
Other new sectors in the offing include Kolkata-Bangkok-Singapore, Nagpur-Dubai, Lucknow-Jaipur-Dubai, Dubai-Ahmedabad besides connecting Muscat, Bahrain and Doha with Indian cities.
Meanwhile, the Air India  is exploring various options including acquisition of JAT, 10 Boeing 737-200 and 4 ATRs.
“We will take a final decision based on the report which will be submitted by Accenture which has been appointed as an adviser,” 
Thulasidas said adding that there are plans to start flights to trans-Atlantic destinations through Belgrade.
“A tie-up will give us an opportunity to operate in Europe as an European airline that will normally not be available to an Indian airline,” Thulasidas remarked.