Air Deccan outsources cabin crew

"As per the contract, which is for an initial period of two years, only Frankfinn students will be recruited as cabin crew by the airlines with up to 400 placements guaranteed each year during the contract," Frankfinn chairman K S Kohli said.

"It will save us the recruitment costs and also help us earn revenue for the in-flight training we will provide to the students under the agreement," Air Deccan managing director Captain G R Gopinath said.

About the financial aspects involved in the agreement, Frankfinn CEO said, "We have shelled out a lot of money for the in-flight training to be provided by Air Deccan."

The airlines also plans to outsource pilots in the near future. "Outsourcing helps us save money. We are in talks with some aviation academies to recruit pilots. For catering, we have already signed an agreement with Cafe Coffee Day.

The airlines which claims to have a market share of 21.6 per cent, targets to break-even by December.

"I am confident that the airlines will enter profitability by December quarter this year," Gopinath said. The no-frills airline, which carried about 5.5 million people, expects to take the number to eight million passengers by the end of its fiscal year in June. The number will further rise to 12 million in the next fiscal, he said.