Air-India is considering to take on contract foreign pilots to meet any shortfall as part of its major expansion plans.

"We are considering to take around 15-20 foreign pilots and we are having discussions with a company for taking them on a temporary period till we meet our requirements," A-I sources said in Mumbai on Thursday.

The airline, which is launching its first flight to Los Angeles on the west coast of the US from June 11, needs pilots as it is planning to operate flights to San Francisco next year and reintroduce services to Australia, the sources added.

"This arrangement of taking pilots on contract is purely a temporary arrangement even as we induct and expedite training our own pilots. We are also looking at enhancing productivity of our own pilots," the sources said.

"This course has been adopted as A-I is all set to ensure that nothing hampers its growth plans," they said.

According to sources, at least 14 pilots from Airbus A310 are now undergoing training on the Boeing 747-400s while it is recruiting around 30 to 40 pilots every quarter to have a total of around 160 pilots by the end of 18 months.

The airline presently has a strength of around 450 pilots and is looking at a strength of around 700-800 in the next five to seven years, depending on the network expansion.