Air India to strengthen practices in 2025, become profitable: CEO

Wilson stated that the Group employs 30,000 people who help its two airlines fly over 60 million passengers annually to more than 100 destinations within India and internationally

If 2024 was the year of consolidation, when Air India, Vistara, Air India Express and AirAsia (India) came under one roof, 2025 will be the year when the Tata-owned airline will strengthen its practices and processes to become consistent, efficient in service, and ultimately profitable in its operations, CEO & MD Campbell Wilson told employees in a message sent on Friday.

 

With the successful mergers of Vistara into Air India and AIX Connect with Air India Express a thing of the past, Wilson said that the Air India Group will now focus on building a common culture of excellence, accountability and customer obsession in 2025.

 

“2025 will see progress on many more key initiatives, such as refitting our wide-body and remaining narrow-body aircraft with new seats and services, further elevating Air India’s service standards, raising the bar on what we consider ‘good’, and more consistently delivering to those new expectations. We will also strengthen and tighten our practices and processes so that we are not just consistent, we are also efficient and, ultimately, profitable,” Wilson said in a message to employees of the group.

 

“Underpinning it all will be our culture. With Air India, Vistara, Air India Express and AirAsia (India) now under one roof, and all the uncertainties and challenges of merger receding into history, we must now look forward, as a united team, to a common destination. While that destination -- of being a world class, global airline group with an Indian heart -- is clear, a culture of excellence, accountability, collaboration, mutual support and customer obsession will be the fuel to take us there. We will be working hard in 2025, with you, to embed this deeply into our DNA,” he said.

 

Air India Group has a fleet of about 300 aircraft. About 210 of them are with Air India while the rest are in the fleet of Air India Express. The group expects to add 100 planes in its fleet by 2027.

 

CEO Wilson said that a total of 30,000 employees now work at the group and they help the two airlines fly over 60 million passengers annually to more than 100 destinations in and outside India.

 

The milestones on runway

 

In his message, Wilson reminisced about the multiple milestones that the group achieved in 2024.

 

“We introduced India’s first A350 aircraft into service, added another 100 aircraft to our already-huge order book, inaugurated our new Training Academy in Gurugram, broke ground on our new maintenance base in Bengaluru and committed to a new 34-aircraft flight school in Amravati,” he noted.

 

“We deployed new websites, new uniforms, new inflight service ware and improved catering, and started receiving significant external awards for our service, technology and entertainment systems. Our frequent flyer program was completely revamped and renamed, new revenue management systems and fare families were deployed in both Air India and Air India Express, and new and improved customer call centres were inaugurated,” Wilson stated.

 

The growing fleet: 1250 & counting  

 

To cater to the growing demand in India’s air travel market, Indian carriers have placed several significant aircraft orders since 2023. In February 2023, the Tata-owned Air India Group announced an order for 470 planes-- 250 from European manufacturer Airbus and 220 from American giant Boeing. A few months later, in June 2023, IndiGo made headlines with the world’s largest aircraft order, signing a deal for 500 A320neo family planes from Airbus.

 

In January 2024, the new airline Akasa Air placed an order for 150 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. This was followed by IndiGo’s April 2024 order for 30 wide-body A350 planes from Airbus, marking its foray into long-haul operations. Most recently, earlier this month, the Air India Group disclosed a fresh order for 100 planes, comprising 90 narrow-body A320 family aircraft and 10 wide-body A350s, all from Airbus.