Jeeves to the Travel Bug

Over the next few years, aviation and hospitality should provide immense opportunities for youngsters to secure challenging openings.

India’s sustained economic growth of 8.7 per cent over the last five years is mainly services driven. Services now account for well over 50 per cent of the GDP. Aviation and hospitality, which come under the omnibus travel and tourism industry, are major contributors to the service economy. Most of the 10 airlines (now operating as seven entities post mergers) offering scheduled services are on an expansion spree. The present strength of approximately 350 aircraft—thrice the number five years ago—is increasing steadily by around 60 to 70 each year, implying that there should be about 500 aircraft by 2010 and more than 700 by 2013. Over the next five years, about 5,000 additional pilots would be required for scheduled and 1,000 for non-scheduled and private operations.

Apart from aviation engineers, new maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) units with trained personnel will need to be established as airlines find it increasingly uneconomical to carry out MRO overseas. Then there is the entire gamut of support staff—cabin crew as well as ground employees. In the next five years, 40,000 new cabin crew jobs are expected to be created. Here it is mainly the girls who will be in demand. Overall, the aviation industry is likely to take on at least 2,50,000 new people in the next two years alone. The Kingfisher website, to cite just one example, currently lists 83 different career openings under 10 groups that could be applied for.

Aviation and hospitality enjoy a symbiotic relationship. Tourists who are cordially greeted and well-looked after during their long flight would appreciate an equally warm welcome and a comfortable stay at their chosen destination. Well-run hotels count on a regular clientele, delivered by an efficient air transport service. That is why staffing companies like TeamLease and Ma Foi confidently predict that heightened activity in aviation and hospitality should make these the largest job creators, overtaking even the IT sector.

Commonwealth Games 2010, due to be held in Delhi, provides the perfect trigger since a huge influx of visitors from across the Commonwealth nations and beyond can be expected. Media interest in the progress of the various facilities and from-the-top pressures to complete everything in time, including under-construction hotels and under-renovation airports, should be enough to get lethargic bureaucrats and procrastinating contractors to deliver. Even without the Games, the hospitality industry, fuelled by a surge in tourist arrivals, is growing at approximately 15 per cent annually. Around $11.4 billion (over Rs 48,000 crore) in investment over the next two years will create a large number of new hotels.