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Air India's transformation is now like being on the morning of the fifth day of a cricket Test match as the heavy lifting has been done, the airline's chief Campbell Wilson has said. The loss-making Air India, which was privatised in January 2022, has been facing various headwinds and when asked about profitability, the CEO and MD said "some unexpected events" have impacted the airline's performance. Air India is in the process of revamping its fleet, which currently stands around 190 planes. In January, the airline took delivery of its first Boeing 787-9 aircraft after privatisation. To a PTI query on the transformation journey, Wilson, who is from New Zealand, said, "Clearly, I think we are may be (in) the morning of the fifth day (of cricket Test match)". A Test match is played over five days. "There is a lot of aircraft that need to go through the refit process. But that's now a mechanical process. We just need the seats to be manufactured, delivered, installed. "All of the .
It is an exciting time for Air India and the changes will manifest in the air as well as on the ground this year, the airline's chief Campbell Wilson said as the Tata Group-owned carrier opened its new lounge at the Delhi airport. The airline will also be opening lounges in San Francisco, New York and other cities. Spread across 16,000 square feet, the Maharaja Lounge at the Delhi airport can accommodate around 300 guests in 'Business' and 'First Class' sections. In a brief interaction with PTI after the opening of the lounge on Thursday evening, Wilson said it is an "exciting time" for Air India and 2026 is the year when the changes will "really manifest in the air" and on the ground as he mentioned about retrofit of wide-body planes. "By the end of this year we'll have about half, a little bit more than half of our wide-body aircraft upgraded to a new standard. It will take another 18-24 months beyond that to complete the rest of the fleet (upgrade)... but increasingly we will ha
Air India Express on Saturday said it has "proactively" grounded one of its Boeing 737-NG aircraft for fixing an issue raised by the aviation safety regulator, DGCA. However, sources said that the DGCA, which carried out an audit of the airline a few weeks back had flagged a potential tyre issue, following which the aircraft has been taken out of operations. "In light of an observation by the regulatory authority, we have proactively withdrawn one of our aircraft from operations for any necessary fixes," an Air India Express spokesperson said. "The DGCA carried out an audit of Air India Express, following which it detected an issue around interchangeability of tyre (of Boeing 737-NG for which the airline has sought a clarification from the OEM (Boeing), leading to the grounding of the aircraft," said a source. The aircraft was pulled out of service two days back, he said. In the meantime, the airline is planning to replace the component of the tyre and the aircraft is expected to
The Tata Group has begun scouting for a suitable candidate to head Air India, as the tenure of the incumbent, Campbell Wilson, will end next year, sources have said. Meanwhile, the Group is also looking to appoint a new Managing Director for its low-cost subsidiary Air India Express. Aloke Singh, will also be completing his tenure in the current position in 2027. "Both sides (Wilson and Tata Group) don't want a renewal (of the contract after 2027). So, it is but natural to go to the market to look for suitable candidates for the top job at Air India," said a source privy to the information. There were no comments from the Tata Group on this issue in response to a PTI query. Sources, however, said that it would take at least 3-6 months to finalise a suitable candidate for Air India, adding that if an overlap occurs, it would be good because the takeover would then become easier. The final report on the Air India Boeing 787-8 crash at Ahmedabad is expected around June. Significantl
The off-duty Air India Express pilot accused of assaulting a passenger at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport here has joined the investigation and is being questioned by the Delhi Police, an official said on Monday. Captain Virendra Sejwal appeared before the investigating officer and cooperated with the probe, police said, adding that his replies were being examined in light of the available evidence. "If the investigating officer is not satisfied with his explanation, he may be arrested in the assault case," a police source said. A senior police officer said the investigation is being carried out strictly on merit and based on the evidence collected so far. "Whatever information can be shared without hampering the process and outcome of the investigation will be made public," a senior police officer said. Earlier, the Delhi Police had recorded the detailed statement of the complainant, Ankit Dewan, and begun collecting material evidence in connection with the alleged .
The Delhi Police on Wednesday said it had recorded statements of eyewitnesses and begun collecting evidence in connection with the alleged assault on a passenger by an off-duty Air India Express pilot at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport here. Police said the complainant was called on Tuesday to record his statement, collect evidence, and medical checkup. A counter-complaint has been received from the pilot, and an inquiry into that is underway, a police officer said. CCTV footage from multiple cameras installed in and around the security area of Terminal 1 is being collected and examined to reconstruct the sequence of events, the officer said. An FIR was registered under sections 115 (voluntarily causing hurt), 126 (wrongful restraint) and 351 (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) after police received a complaint via email from the victim, Ankit Dewan, on Monday. As it happened, on December 19, Dewan claimed he was physically assaulted near the
A Visakhapatnam-bound Air India Express flight was cancelled at the Gannavaram Airport on December 18 night due to a technical snag detected before take-off, an airport official said. Among the passengers were high-profile figures, including former vice president M Venkaiah Naidu, Andhra Pradesh Agriculture Minister K Atchennaidu and senior YSRCP leader B Satyanarayana. "While taxiing, they detected an engine problem, so they (aircraft) returned to the bay and the flight was cancelled," Vijayawada airport director Lakshmikanth Reddy told PTI late on Thursday. According to Reddy, the aircraft suffered a technical snag around 8:30 pm on Thursday. Meanwhile, an Air India Express spokesperson said the engine-related problem was identified prior to the departure. In the interest of safety, our Vijayawada - Visakhapatnam flight returned to the ramp after the pilot identified a technical issue prior to departure. The flight was subsequently cancelled, the spokesperson said on ...
Six major domestic airlines have employed 13,989 pilots, with Air India and its low-cost arm, Air India Express, having 6,350 and 1,592 pilots respectively and IndiGo having 5,085 cockpit crew, Parliament was informed on Monday. The number of pilots at Akasa is 466 and at SpiceJet, it is 385, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha. The government-run Alliance Air has employed 111 pilots, he added. The minister said the rate of employment among qualified pilots is dependent on market forces. He said the rationale behind airlines hiring foreign pilots, inter alia, is the requirement of a specific type-rated pilot in light of fleet expansions and time-bound operational requirements. Mohol also said the flying training organisations (FTOs) are continuously upgrading their aircraft fleet by regularly inducting training aircraft fleets. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has facilitated the induction o
Five days after the IndiGo flight disruptions that left thousands of passengers stranded at airports pan-India, Tata Group-owned Air India on Saturday said it has taken several measures to "help" fliers, including introducing a special waiver on change or cancellation fees on eligible domestic bookings. It also said Air India, along with its subsidiary Air India Express, has "proactively" capped economy airfares on non-stop domestic flights from December 4 to prevent the usual demand-supply dynamics applied by automated revenue management systems. It also said both carriers are also in the process of ensuring compliance with the latest directive on airfare caps announced by the Civil Aviation Ministry on Saturday. To provide greater flexibility, Air India and Air India Express have introduced a special waiver on change or cancellation fees on eligible domestic bookings, the airline said. With this, customers who booked their flights with either carrier until December 4 for travel .
Air India Group is looking to add capacity to help passengers impacted by the IndiGo flight disruptions. "Since 4 December, economy class airfares on non-stop domestic flights have been proactively capped to prevent the usual demand-and-supply mechanism being applied by revenue management systems," a statement said on Saturday. Both Air India and Air India Express have put in place caps on economy class fares. The statement from Air India came hours after the government announced introduction of airfare caps amid IndiGo flight disruptions. Air India also said it is not technically possible to cap fares for all flight permutations. "Air India and Air India Express are seeking to add capacity to help travellers and their baggage reach their destinations as quickly as possible," the statement said.