Akasa Air (QP, Mumbai International) has had to ground some pilots because of ongoing B737 MAX delivery delays, The Hindu newspaper reported. The low-cost carrier recruited enough cockpit crew to operate 42 aircraft as of March 31, 2025, but it will close the financial year with only 26 aircraft, leaving it with hundreds of surplus personnel.
Citing pilot sources, the newspaper says that 400 of Akasa's approximately 850 pilots are yet to start flying with the carrier. The airline told the newspaper that around 60% of its pilots had started to accumulate flying hours and that the vast majority of pilots would be flying by the end of the year. Meanwhile, grounded pilots are receiving around 50% of their base pay.
Launched in December 2021, Akasa's business plan had it growing to seventy-two B737-8s after five years of operations. The airline presently flies twenty-three of them, plus three B737-8-200s. It has 101 B737-8-200s and ninety-nine B737-10s on order.
In 2024, Akasa Air took delivery of just three aircraft and, as recently reported in ch-aviation, Boeing told it not to expect any more until the end of this quarter. Akasa then anticipates five aircraft deliveries in the second quarter of 2025. However, it will end the financial year, on March 31, with 15 fewer aircraft than planned.
A Boeing spokesperson told ch-aviation that they continued to work with customers regarding the timing of their deliveries.
ch-aviation also contacted Akasa Air for comment.
