Want people who’ve learnt from life, says AirAsia India chief Mittu Chandilya

AirAsia India plans to hire close to 1,000 people by the end of 2015, and chances are that those with an emotional quotient that is more impressive than their qualifications will make the grade.
“I am looking for street fighters… aviation is going to see turbulent times. You need people who have gone through life and not been handed everything… because then they don’t really know what to do when things really get rough,” CEO Mittu Chandilya said.
He was speaking here after the low-cost airline made its maiden Bangalore-Pune-Jaipur flight — the first ever hopping flight in AirAsia’s history worldwide. On their hiring strategy, Chandilya explained that all hiring was personalised, and through walk-in interviews at road shows. The company prefers to hire raw talent than those from top institutes, so nearly 60 per cent of the current base of 500-odd employees come from the smaller cities. 
“The pedigree guys, what they are most keen on doing is not tarnishing their CVs… they don’t want a blemish. I love those blemishes because I can really learn from them,” he said. By the end of 2015, the AirAsia India fleet will grow to 14 planes (from three at the moment) — all A-320s — and the airline will do 800 routes a week, from 200 at present. As of now, the six of seven routes it operates are making profits, with the Bengaluru-Chennai sector the only exception, Chandilya said. 
While not hedging fuel prices had helped enormously, another decision was to go with a single fleet. “We will never have a double fleet as this adds to the costs,” he said, adding a tight control on costs, especially when the revenue was flowing in, was one of the lessons he learnt from the mishaps in India’s aviation industry.
Referring to SpiceJet’s troubles, Chandilya said: “It’s a sombre day for me, in many ways... you never want another airline to go through what is happening now in the industry.”  
AirAsia India will help in any way it can, and not adopt predatory pricing for the passenger overflow from the beleaguered airline, he said.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-news/want-people-whove-learnt-from-life-says-airasia-india-chief-mittu-chandilya/article6702490.ece

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