Air India on Transformation, Merger and Competition Ahead (Image: x.com/airindia)
The Air India is on a transformative path, with rebranding and rebuilding itself. As a part of its long-term transformation plan ‘Vihaan. AI’, Air India MD and CEO Campbell Wilson said that the airline wanted to represent the new India – “confident, warm and hospitable.”
He spoke on acquiring 470 new aircraft, which was coming and on refurbishment, “that”s why we committed to the $400 million for complete refurbishment of all of the wide-body aircraft with new seats, new in-flight entertainment, new galleys, new lavatories – essentially a complete replacement of the interior. Installation of the seats will commence on the first aircraft in the middle of next year in addition to those refurbished aircraft,”NDTV reported Mr. Wilson saying.
The plan also included the restoration of old, grounded aircrafts, which he recalled as about 30 in numbers, which was to be made airworthy. “But we”re nearly at the end of that journey, thankfully. That”s what has allowed us to increase service to five new cities already this year, international cities, and expand frequency on others,” he said.
Apart from this, on the new aircrafts that has entered the fleet – “six 777s that have already entered the fleet and are serving routes to North America and London,” there are “five more coming in over the next four-five months.” And, “six of our new A350s coming in before March 2024. Which will mean that. by March 2024, about 30% of our wide-body aircraft will be of a modern standard,” Mr Wilson said on addition of new aircrafts. This acquiring of 470 new aircraft is the second largest order in the history of commercial aviation. The first part of the transformation is over, with the airline now at the second phase, “it’s a long way to go, but it’s a good start,” the MD told cnbctv18.com.
On the merger of Air India with Vistara, Mr. Wilson said that, Vistara being built on new technology platforms, Air India will have to rise up to the Vistara level for a merger to happen. This said, he also added that the new carrier airline could retain the name of Air India, which he added, comes with a 91-year heritage and is known globally, thus, “logically, internationally, Air India is by far the better name to have,” said NDTV.
“We”ve said that the future airline will probably be called Air India. But we won”t be merging Vistara and Air India until such time that we feel that Air India has reached the level that Vistara is at. With Vistara as part of the family, there”s a lot we can learn from… I think part of the reason that Vistara has been successful is a very young airline that was built on latest technology, had new aircraft. And these are things that Air India will have in due course too,” the Air India MD said on this.
On the challenges that could be posed from Indigo airlines, Mr. Wilson opined that both the airlines catered to different market segments. While Air India was focused on full service with product quality, consistency, warmth of service, full service, meals, entertainment, comfortable seats, business class, first class and premium economy class; Air India also had Air India Express which is a low-cost business airline, he said. “For people that don”t quite want those bells and whistles or prefer price over product and service, we will offer them a proposition as well. So really our portfolio approach is to ensure that we meet the needs of the consumer. We don”t necessarily dictate to the consumer what they should take from us,” he continued.
With many changes happening with the airline, when asked about the probability for a new Maharani, the MD replied, “anything”s possible,” stressing on the part that Air India has clearly mentioned that Maharaja would be a part of Air India’s future. With this he said that Air India would see new uniforms too.
Sounding thrilled about the infrastructure progress that India has achieved over the years, Mr. Wilson said that with these developments, the airlines could go in different directions and could explore new routes, “I think there is a range of options and opportunities for us.” He spoke of North America, Europe, Australia, Asia, Africa, from where flights could operate non-stop, NDTV said.
