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The boss of US low-fare carrier JetBlue has said it is necessary to over-hire staff because of the rate at which people are still leaving the industry. Robin Hayes was speaking as thousands of travellers have been hit by recent disruption - caused largely by staff shortages that have blighted the re-start of air travel after the pandemic. Airlines have cut summer schedules and made last-minute cancellations. "I now need to over-hire just to keep the number I need," he told the BBC. "With Covid, we lost a lot of experienced people," Hayes added. Airports and airlines, which cut jobs during Covid lockdowns, have found it difficult to recruit enough staff as demand for holidays has surged. JetBlue, a smaller scale airline than British Airways, Virgin and American Airlines had, he said, seen the situation "normalise" as the summer has progressed. But he said the firm, like other airlines, had adjusted its hiring plan to cope with people leaving more quickly - by employing more staff.<br/>

India's newest budget carrier Akasa Air, which is backed by billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, began commercial operations on Sunday with a maiden flight from the financial capital of Mumbai to the city of Ahmedabad. Starting from Sunday, Akasa Air will operate weekly flights from Mumbai to Ahmedabad, a commercial hub in the neighbouring state of Gujarat, the company said. "We want to serve our country by creating strong transportation links which are the underpinning of any economic growth engine" Vinay Dube, founder and CEO of the airline said. Jhunjhunwala, known as "India's Warren Buffett", has teamed up with ex-Jet Airways CEO Dube and former IndiGo head Aditya Ghosh to set up Akasa. Akasa, which has a total of 72 Boeing planes on order, will compete directly with other budget carriers like IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoFirst. Domestic air travel in India has made a sharp recovery this year with airlines flying over 57m passengers in the first half, up 238% from last year, government data showed.<br/>