TravTalk India Online Magazine
‘Change’ has been the keyword in the Air India story for the last two years, and the way things are moving forward, it is likely that we see a different face of the airline, as well as Indian aviation at large, shares Campbell Wilson, CEO & MD, Air India.
Nisha Verma
Campbell Wilson, CEO & MD, Air India, said that it is a good time for aviation, and it will continue for some time longer, particularly given the supply chain constraints on deliveries of new aircraft.
“From an Air India perspective, it is about two years since we were privatised, 18 months since we started our transformation. The first phase of that, throughout early part of 2023, was simply about stabilisation because we were an under-invested business. We had a lot of skeletons in the closet. We had to keep the business afloat and stable. Then, the next year was about building the competencies, capabilities, platform systems to enable rapid growth,” Wilson said, addressing the CEO session at CAPA India Aviation Summit in New Delhi.
Fleet induction
“In the last six months, we have seen that growth come to fruition. It was mentioned that 40 aircraft were inducted over the last year. However, considering aircraft that were rehabilitated from being long grounded for want of spare parts, we have added about 70 aircraft in the last 18 months, which is the size of Vistara. We continue to take in aircraft at the rate of about one every six days. We have for the last six months, and we will for the next six months. That is consuming a lot of our time and bandwidth,” he claimed.
The merger
Talking about the much-anticipated merger, Wilson informed, “We are also in the process of integrating Air Asia India with Air India Express, as well as Air India full service with Vistara. Both these should be completed towards the end of this calendar year. Hence, this year is very much about growth and integration.” He added, “With respect to the merger of Air India and Vistara, we have the competition clearance. We are awaiting the publication of the legal clearance from the National Commercial Law Tribunal any day now. On top of that, we are working with the DGCA on the process of transferring aircraft from one operating certificate to another, transferring crew, systems and bookings. However, we hope to complete the process at the end of this calendar year,” he said.
The transformation
When it comes to transformation, Wilson said that there was a lot to fix in the old Air India. Cut to the status today, Wilson informed, “We have had about 9,000 people join the company, which includes 5,000 new cabin crew and more than 1,000 new pilots. We have completely replaced the IT platform. More than 85 new IT systems have been deployed.””
Product, network expansion
Wilson informed that in addition to the six A350s, “Air India has also leased 11 B777s and we have got 70 firm orders for more A350s, B787s and B777s. With new amenities, new catering, new brand, new uniforms, the training that we are giving the 5,000 new crew that we have onboarded, it takes a while to bring these things together. However, being up there with the best of the world airlines is a key priority and ambition for the future,” he shared. The entire standardisation is going to be until the middle of 2026. “You will see key markets like New York, San Francisco, London, Frankfurt, Singapore, and Dubai being exclusively served,” he said.
