A320 Air India scaled
Air India has finally acknowledged that the seat refurbishment plan for its widebody aircraft is delayed due to global supply chain issues. The refurbishment involves the Boeing 777 and 787 Dreamliner aircraft that Air India, now run by Tata Sons, inherited when it won the divestment bid for the then-state-owned airline. Tata Sons finally came onboard the airline in 2022.
In an interaction with the media in Delhi on Thursday, Campbell Wilson, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Air India, said that two suppliers came to the airline and said that there would be a delay of six months in the case of one supplier and a little longer in the case of the other. In effect, this means that the upgraded seats will now be available to Air India and its passengers only in 2025, as the delivery of the retrofitted aircraft will start then.
In September this year, an Air India passenger posted a video on X about his “worst first-class cabin” experience. After the video went viral, the airline refunded the passenger over $6,000.
The aircraft causing grief to Air India now are part of a 68 Boeing deal signed by the airline then under the government in January 2006. The same year, Indian Airlines signed another agreement for 43 Airbus A 320 family aircraft. Indian Airlines and Air India were merged the following year, and the combined entity was named Air India, which Tata Sons took over in 2022.
Why this situation?
Tata Sons took over Air India, which accrued debts running into billions of dollars, most of which were absorbed by the government. It also took over an old fleet of narrow-body and wide-body aircraft.
In 2023, under the Tatas, Air India signed an agreement to purchase 470 narrowbody and widebody aircraft from both Airbus and Boeing. This was the airline’s first order of new aircraft since 2006. Over 40 aircraft from the 470 aircraft order have joined the fleet, including 35 Boeing 737s and six Airbus A350s, helping the airline enhance passenger service onboard on key routes like London and New York, operated with the Airbus A350.
Whitetail aircraft delivery is also delayed.
Campbell said there had been some delay in the delivery of the whitetails, which the airline was expecting by December this year. He indicated that while 35 whitetails had joined the fleet, the remaining are likely to be inducted by about June next year. The 35 aircraft have been taken over by the low-cost arm Air India Express. Earlier, they were all expected to join by December this year. The CEO indicated that the delivery will likely slip to June next year, impacting the airline. He added that it was unclear how long the impact would last, although he indicated it could be for about six months.
Growth in 2025
Campbell indicated that growth will primarily come from domestic and short-haul international flights, as most aircraft are narrow-body.
Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines jointly own the current Air India. Earlier this month, Air India completed the merger of Vistara, and with the integration, Singapore Airlines holds a 25.1 percent stake in the enlarged entity.
The Tata Group has consolidated its airline business. Vistara has merged with Air India, and AIX Connect has been integrated with Air India Express.
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