FLY91’s hiring push takes flight as regional airline scales up

Goa-based FLY91 plans to more than double its workforce as it adds aircraft and stations, but its ability to cut reliance on government subsidies and reach profitability will be key to sustaining growth.

Less than three years after starting operations, Goa-based regional airline FLY91 is expanding its workforce as it prepares to add aircraft and open new stations. Its employee count is expected to cross 1,000 over the next two years, from about 550 currently, Manoj Chacko, founder, MD and CEO of FLY91, said in an interview.

The airline, which operates six ATR 72-600 turboprops across 13 stations, is hiring across cockpit crew, cabin crew, engineering, technicians, flight dispatch and airport operations.

These smaller, propeller-driven aircraft are designed for shorter journeys and smaller airports, allowing FLY91 to connect cities that may not have enough demand or suitable infrastructure for larger narrow-body jets. It competes with regional carriers such as Star Air and Alliance Air, while IndiGo also operates turboprops on some regional routes.

“We are at about 550 people across 13 stations,” said Chacko. He said the airline is adequately staffed in its core functions for the next two years of planned growth, with incremental hiring linked to aircraft induction and the opening of new stations.

Hiring with growth

The airline has advertised for captains, trainee and transition captains, cabin crew, flight dispatchers, aircraft maintenance engineers and other airport roles. Chacko said the recruitment is directly linked to aircraft induction and new stations rather than a broad-based hiring spree.

“We should be crossing a thousand in the next two year but again like I said, you know, we are going to be extremely prudent about how the hiring is going to happen,” he said.

Chacko said each aircraft requires about 25 additional employees, excluding technicians, taking the requirement to around 30 people per aircraft. New stations add another 10-14 employees, depending on the number of flights and shifts.

“For every airport that you start up, depending on the number of flights and shifts, it could be anywhere from 10 to 14 people per airport,” he said.

At a projected 70 employees per aircraft, FLY91’s staffing level would be lower than the employee-to-aircraft ratios at larger Indian airlines. IndiGo had 69,000 employees and 441 aircraft at the end of FY26, or about 156 employees per aircraft. The comparison is not directly like-for-like, given differences in fleet mix, network, international operations and scale.

“FLY91’s hiring plan looks reasonable if it follows fleet expansion. At management’s stated target of 70 employees per aircraft, a workforce of 1,000–1,100 would require around 15–16 aircraft. The targets are therefore consistent, but hiring substantially ahead of aircraft entering service would put pressure on costs,” said Jainam Shah, aviation analyst at Equirus Securities.

FLY91 has already added Ti and Navi Mumbai as part of its expansion and expects to add around five or six stations a year while increasing frequencies on existing routes.

“If you pick a destination, we will connect that destination to at least three to four cities on a daily basis,” Chacko said.

The airline has ordered 40 ATR 72-600 aircraft, with deliveries scheduled to begin from 2027. Before those aircraft arrive, it plans to acquire aircraft from the existing market, taking its fleet to around 12-14 aircraft by late next year. Its longer-term plan is to take the fleet to about 60 aircraft over five years.

Profitability test

The expansion comes as FLY91 works to improve its financial position. Just UDO Aviation Pvt. Ltd., which operates FLY91, reported operating revenue of about ₹127 crore and a net loss of ₹67.6 crore in FY25, its first full financial year of operations. About 55% of its revenue came from the government’s regional connectivity scheme, UDAN, according to its financials. Its FY26 financial results are yet to be filed with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

That dependence on government support makes the airline’s target of reaching break-even in FY27 significant. FLY91 expects FY28 to be its first full profitable year.

The UDAN scheme has helped create a market for airlines connecting smaller cities, but several regional carriers that entered the market over the past decade have subsequently shut operations. FLY91 is among the newer regional airlines to have survived its initial years, but its ability to reduce dependence on subsidised routes will be critical as it scales.

Funding the fleet

The airline is backed by private-equity firm Convergent Finance, along with investors including Ramesh Damani and high-net-worth individuals. Convergent and funds advised by it anchored FLY91’s initial ₹200 crore investment.

The company is also completing a ₹250 crore equity raise. Chacko said ₹63 crore has already been raised through compulsorily convertible preference shares from existing investors, while the balance is being raised from external investors and is undergoing due diligence.

The airline is evaluating sale-and-leaseback arrangements, bank financing and consortium financing for its aircraft.

“We are looking at various financing mechanisms,” Chacko said. “One is a traditional lessor who will do a sale and leaseback. Two is, you will have a typical bank that will fund the asset. And third, you could potentially have a consortium of financiers who will want to finance the assets.”

The fundraising is encouraging, but proposed funding should not be treated as cash already available, Shah said.

About the Authors

Dipali Banka is a Mumbai-based journalist who treats corporate reporting less like a beat and more like a puzzle to be solved. This invariably means she has to read through annual reports and speak with leaders and analysts. She tracks policies, deals, and the pulse of industries spanning metals, mining, paints, and cement, alongside aviation. She started out as an intern at The Statesman and then completed her postgraduate diploma in journalism from Asian College of Journalism, Chennai, in 2025. Relentlessly curious at heart, Dipali is driven by the simple urge to understand how things work and who they impact. Armed with an enduring fascination for steel and aeroplanes, she moves through the churn of daily news with focus, turning complexity into clarity without losing the story. She is particularly committed to shaping numbers into objective narratives, having little appetite for vagueness that gets in her way.<br><br>Outside the newsroom, Dipali is an unapologetically loud presence who values long conversations and longer walks to unwind. She devours books of all kinds and can often be found indulging in the lyrical sway of contemporary ghazals. She ardently believes that her relationship with her bylines is more sacred than it would ever be with anyone across the human race.

Abhishek Law has spent 18 years in journalism, which in news industry terms means he has survived several newsroom restructurings, countless “urgent” press releases, and more cups of tea than he can reasonably count. Based in New Delhi, he covers aviation for Mint, a sector where aircraft, oil prices, geopolitics and airline CEOs regularly conspire to make his life interesting.<br><br>Most of his time gets occupied by translating airline jargon like ASKs, yields, load factors and fleet strategies into language that doesn’t require a pilot’s licence. His motto is simple: if readers need a glossary, he hasn’t done his job properly.<br><br>On most days, the quadragenarian is tracking airline strategies, policy changes and the occasional mid-air disruption that suddenly become a stock market story. When planes are behaving themselves (which is not very often nowadays), he strays into other corporate beats like steel, trying to figure out what’s really happening.<br><br>He loves to talk, especially ask—that one more question which people are uncomfortable with, and saving contacts in his phone as a "Source who may or may not pick up calls”. <br><br>But, on a serious note, the goal remains simple: cut through jargon, find that additional detail, and turn complicated business stories into something one can actually enjoy reading.