Air India will have to do big hiring, will have to keep more than 6,500 pilots for 470 aircraft

Tata Group's airline Air India has signed the world's largest civil aviation deal of 470 aircraft with Airbus and Boeing 2 days ago. Now to operate these 470 aircraft, Air India will need to hire more than 6,500 pilots. Sources related to the aviation industry have given information about this.
Air India's order to Airbus includes 210 A320/321 Neo/XLR and 40 A350-900/1000. And the order given to the Boeing firm includes 190 737-Max, 20 787s and 10 777s.
Air India currently has around 1,600 pilots to operate its fleet of 113 aircraft. At the same time, there have also been cases of cancellation or delay of ultra-long haul flights due to a shortage of crew members for a few days.
On the other hand, Tata Group's own airlines Air India Express and Air Asia India have about 850 pilots to fly their 54 aircraft. Whereas, Vistara has more than 600 pilots for 53 aircraft. That is, Air India, Air India Express, Vistara and AirAsia India have more than 3,000 pilots for a total of 220 aircraft.
According to sources, Air India is taking 40 A350s primarily for its long-haul routes or flights lasting more than 16 hours. The airline will need 30 pilots, 15 commanders and 15 first officers for each aircraft. Which means Air India would need around 1,200 pilots just for the A350s.
According to sources, a Boeing 777 aircraft requires 26 pilots. If the airline inducts 10 such aircraft in its fleet, it will need 260 pilots. Whereas, 20 Boeing 787 would require around 400 pilots. Because each Boeing 787 aircraft requires 20 pilots, including 10 commanders and 10 first officers.
In all, the airline will need a total of 660 pilots to induct 30 wide-body Boeing aircraft into its fleet. And the airline will need 12 pilots for each narrow-body plane (Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 Max). Which means the airline would need at least 4,800 pilots to operate 400 such aircraft.