After Go First exit, Air India CEO planning to 'quickly' increase flights

Aviation analytics firm says Air India may be able to boost domestic flights if 17 of its grounded planes are brought back to service soon

Air India is planning to "quickly" increase domestic services to minimise frequency and airfare disruption due to Go First's decision to curtail flights, its Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Campbell Wilson said on Friday.

Go First stopped operating all flights from May 3 after filing an insolvency application with the National Company Law Tribunal. The budget carrier was operating about 200 flights a day in April.

"The week saw Air India and other group carriers (AirAsia India and Air India Express) spring into action to assist in response to external events. Firstly, stepping up flights to Imphal to cater to those seeking to temporarily relocate given local unrest," Wilson noted.

"Then, to plan how we might quickly increase domestic flights to fill the gap left by another airline's curtailment of flights to minimise capacity, frequency and airfare disruptions to the public," Wilson told Air India staffers in a message that has been reviewed by Business Standard.

According to data from Cirium, an aviation analytics firm, Air India had 107 planes in operation on May 3, while 17 of its aircraft were not in use. The airline might be able to boost domestic flights if the 17 grounded planes are brought back to service soon.

Air India currently operates 400 flights a day, according to the data. Its subsidiaries AirAsia India and Air India Express are operating some 200 flights and 90 flights a day, the data showed.

Wilson said that Air India is going to have a new 57,000 sq ft engineering warehouse near Delhi airport and an agreement regarding this matter has already been signed. "It aims to be operational next month, giving us more proximate access to and better control over our aircraft spares so we can resolve defects faster," he mentioned.

Wilson also talked about the airline's new website, calling it a "Trishanku" version. "In addition to an improved look and feel, the website sees us migrate off dated software onto a whole new tech stack. giving us better control and the ability to innovate faster. Our teams are now hard at work adding new features and capabilities ahead of the major "Phoenix" upgrade later this year," he noted.