Jetstar Asia to hire more than 200 pilots, cabin crew as budget airline rebuilds capacity

Low-cost carrier Jetstar Asia plans to hire more than 200 pilots and cabin crew as part of efforts to rebuild capacity post-Covid-19. Two more Airbus A320 aircraft will join its fleet of seven by the end of 2023. Announcing these plans in a LinkedIn post on Tuesday, Jetstar Asia CE Barathan Pasupathi said plans are also afoot to add more planes to the airline’s stable in the next year and a half. He did not give details. “We are embarking on an exciting chapter of sustainable growth,” Pasupathi said. The Singapore-based airline, he added, intends to rehire a number of pilots who left at the peak of the pandemic. Jetstar Asia, jointly owned by Singapore investment company Westbrook Investments and Australian flag carrier Qantas, will also induct new cadet pilots and cabin crew interns. In addition, it will hire graduates from aviation academies through a direct-entry recruitment programme. A Jetstar Asia spokesman said it already has the crew needed for the two A320s that will be added to its fleet in 2023. “We are now commencing a recruitment programme for roles required over the next 12 months and seeing strong interest,” she said. In July 2020, when borders were shut and air travel demand nosedived because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Jetstar Asia cut about 180 jobs, or a quarter of its Singapore-based workforce. Between 2020 and 2022, the carrier shed 11 A320s, reducing its fleet size from 18 to seven. Since then, international air travel in Asia-Pacific has been recovering steadily.<br/>