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CHENNAI:
The current aviation boom and the consequent entry of new
airlines to domestic as well as international sectors, is set
to open up as many as 5000 aviation jobs in Chennai itself in
the coming year. This means that the city will have a major
share of the 8000 jobs, which will be generated in the
southern region.
A survey done by Air Hostess Academy, a
manpower-training organisation based in New Delhi, shows that
airlines are on the lookout for personnel with excellent
communication skills and knowledge in one or more languages
as cabin crew, said Sapna Gupta, founder and chief
consultant, Air Hostess Academy (AHA). As many as
21,000 vacancies are likely to come up across the country as
a result.
“While the demand for personnel from Chennai is shooting up,
there is a shortfall in availability of trained personnel,”
she said.
Shortfall is on two counts – adequate seats in air-hostess
training institutes and availability of personnel who have a
knowledge of local language.
“This is crucial because airlines which operate services from
Chennai to South-East Asian destinations and also to Europe
and USA require personnel who know Tamil, Hindi and English
in addition the mandatory foreign language. Hence AHA focuses
on providing language training,” Sapna added.
This is because of a change in the nature of air travellers
over the years, said industry experts. “Competition among
airlines, triggered by the open sky policy, has led to fare
wars and have opened up air travel which was the preserve of
frequent business class travellers,” they said.
To cash in on the boom, Air Hostess Academy, which has 95
percent of its students employed in aviation and hospitality
industry, has opened its branch in Chennai in association
with Pee Vee Agencies on Thursday.
Sapna Gupta said: “Chennai has huge potential for recruiting
personnel as cabin crew as more and more parents are
beginning to become open to the idea of choosing a career in
aviation for their daughters. We have received as many as
2000 applications for the courses from Chennai.”
For students from Chennai special focus was needed in
language and communication skills, otherwise the basic
requirement was Plus Two qualification, knowledge in general
knowledge, IQ and English, she said.
As there was a shortfall in personnel, all students were sure
to land a job, she said and added that the 1,200 students who
passed out of AHA’s centres in Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh,
Dehradun, Jaipur, Pune and Kolkata last year had joined
airlines and hospitality industry.
“AHA offers two diploma courses with placement assistance –
Aviation and Hospitality Management for one year and Global
Aviation and Hospitality Management for two years – from our
centre located in T Nagar.”
The courses would have personality development, communication
skills and management. In-flight training will be provided in
association with Jet Airways.
AHA has plans to expand its operations and branches will be
opened in Coimbatore and Thiruvananthapuram shortly. Centres
will be opened in Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Dubai, Colombo,
Muscat and Singapore.
The Air Hostess Academy (AHA), the pioneer institute
that provides trained manpower to the service industry in
India and the first to be accredited with an 150-9001:2002
certification, opened its branch in Chennai June 9. The
opening of the Chennai branch is a part of AHA's expansion
plans.
Currently AHA has its branches in Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh,
Dehradun, Jaipur, Pune and Kolkata. With the opening of a new
branch in Chennai, AHA is all set to consolidate its position
in the southern region. The branch will be located at 56,
Block A, Thirumalai Pillai Road, T Nagar.
It will be equipped with an experienced faculty and adequate
infrastructure for the training of the students. The AHA's
Chennai operations would be headed by a franchisee managed by
Pawan Gupta and Vikas.
The Chennai branch will offer the following courses:
* Aviation and hospitality management (diploma
course) - Duration - 1 year
* Diploma course in global aviation & hospitality
management - Duration - 2 years
Sapna Gupta, founder and chief consultant, AHA, said in
Chennai, "After making its presence felt in northern, western
and eastern India, our obvious target was to attract the best
talent in south India. This is a very strategic move.
Recruitment in the ITES sector is happening at a scorching
pace of 7-9 per cent (Source: World Bank report 2004). So in
order to stay ahead of our competitors and net more
employment opportunities for our students, we must extend our
investment and reach to other metropolitan centres."
The Chennai branch had attracted over 2,000 applications
within a week. About 250 persons would find a place in the
short-list based on a screening process.
Sapna explained that the AHA Group was ready to join forces
with franchisee partners in the western and southern regions
if they shared in the vision and goals of AHA. "AHA is a very
quality-conscious brand and we would not like to fritter away
the goodwill that we have managed to generate over the past
few years, to undeserving partners," she explained. This
explains the reason for the group's decision to go slow and
measured with the franchisee drive.
The success of the AHA brand is evident from the group's
meteoric growth - from a one-branch, boot-strap operation in
1997 to 15 well-equipped training centres all across India.
AHA's "A" level faculty, comprising serving and retired
professionals, state-of-the-art infrastructure; and highly
interactive, industry-relevant instruction mode and delivery
mechanism is highly adequate in "job readying" youth to the
exact specifications of the industry, Sapna said.
She added that "AHA also boasts of an unmatched placement
record - AHA students get picked up by the country's leading
airlines, hotels and BPO establishments, such as Jet Airways,
Air Sahara, Indian Airlines, Air Deccan, Malaysian Airlines,
Royal Dutch Airlines, Hotel Hyatt Regency, The Oberoi, Taj
Mahal, Ashoka, Imperial, Maurya Sheraton, Crowne Plaza,
Mariot, H.C.L, Convergys and Le Meridien, to name just a
few."
As international tourism expands and various foreign airlines
and hotel chains set up shop in India through pro-industry
policies such as the proposed hike in FDI cap, several more
MNCs and BPOs are bound to make heavy investments in the
training and retention of skilled manpower in India: "So,
this is the time to grab this opportunity, take wings and
kiss the skies. They are all looking forward to recruit well
groomed and smart young candidates." Thus, this is just the
right time for AHA to go ahead with its expansion plans and
cater to the rising demands of the service industry.
"As our vision expands, our dreams get bigger, our ambitions
higher, our commitment deeper and our efforts the greatest,"
sums up Sapna.
Established in 1997, AHA offers courses specifically designed
to meet the growing demand for trained manpower in the
service sector, including aviation, hotel, air catering
organisations, ground services, MNC and call centres. AHA is
one of the pioneering institutes that "job-readies" youth for
the services sector.
AHA plans to invest anywhere between Rs 15 to 20 crore in
opening more branches in India - possible locations
Coimbatore, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram and
Ahmedabad, besides overseas - at Dubai, Colombo, Singapore,
Malaysia, Mauritius and Dhaka, and later move to Europe,
Sapna said, adding that it was looking for internal
generation of funds. The new branches in India and overseas
would be in the franchisee model, with an investment of
nearly Rs 1 crore at each centre. For more information, log
on to http://www.airhostessacademy.com
Sapna said there was a massive response from Chennai, both
from students and parents as well as the industry since a
large number of opportunities had cropped up in the aviation
sector with more foreign airlines operating in the south than
before. Chennai had opened up in the recent past and many
talented students were interested in taking up careers in the
aviation and hospitality sectors, she pointed out.
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