(Image source from: x.com/airindia)

Air India CEO Campbell Wilson, who has been criticized for poor service standards, infighting among employees and severely dilapidated interiors, said that it would take several years to revive the company. “The Economist called it the Everest of all corporate turnarounds,” Wilson said. We have made no secret of the fact that this is a multi-year program, we are currently in the second year of our five-year program. In line with its annual turnaround plan, Air India management has reorganized thousands of employees across the airlines now part of the group - Vistara, Air India Express and AirAsia India face a tough integration battle. Each airline, including the original Air India, had its own work culture, which made it particularly difficult to align employees' work expectations. The Vistara pilots effectively went on strike by calling all of their sick passengers en masse, with particularly severe disruptions starting in late March 2024 and lasting until early April 2024. This was a protest against the new contract introduced with the impending merger of Vistara and Air India. This reduced the guaranteed flight time from 70 to 40 hours and reduced the pay of many pilots, particularly junior lieutenants.

In May this year, a significant number of Air India Express flight crews complained of unwellness in protest against mismanagement and issues related to its merger with AIX Connect (formerly AirAsia India). The airline's management initially fired several flight crew members but reinstated them after the intervention of India's chief labor commissioner. “This is by no means a finished product and we recognize that there are many expectations and anticipations before the future Air India is fully born,” Campbell-Wilson said. He pointed out that despite the problems, there is still a significant change in the airline's direction, saying: "I'm looking forward to it too." "We have increased the average age [of our employees] from 54 to 35, 9,000 new employees hired, four airlines introduced to two airlines, 140 IT systems, 100 new aircraft, new training and maintenance facilities.”

Asked about fines for lax security measures, Mr Wilson said there were sometimes systemic gaps that could be partly explained by outdated practices at the former state-owned airline. “Sometimes it’s traditional practice. Sometimes it is due to human supervision. “Sometimes it’s because of gaps in the system or problems that can’t be fixed or mitigated by other methods,” Campbell said. We are audited every six months. We undergo external audits, whether by IATA (International Air Travel Association) or other parties. Time limits for flight crew and international flights with “unqualified” crew.

Air India's decision to pursue its merger plan with Vistara, widely considered India's best airline, comes as a surprise to passengers and Vistara fans who have always praised the airline's renowned service standards. Earlier this year, Vistara was named Best Airline in India and South Asia at Skytrax's World Airline Awards 2024 for the fourth consecutive year. The Vistara aircraft, now integrated into Air India, are also configured to a higher standard than most of Air India's existing A-320 and A-321 fleet.

“Vistara gives Air India the opportunity to be a catalyst by creating a new airline that represents the best of Vistara and Air India history,” Wilson said. To maintain the quality offered by Vistara products, Air India has previously operated Vistara Airbus A320neo aircraft on major metro routes between Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Bangalore, Delhi-Hyderabad, Delhi-Hyderabad and Mumbai. -Bangalore and Mumbai-Hyderabad from December 1st.

Hundreds of fake calls were made to Indian Airlines last month, resulting in changes and disruptions to flights on the ground and in the air, not just in Indian airspace but around the world. Several Air India flights were also affected, creating a difficult time for the airline's management in dealing with the unpredictable situation. On October 15, 2024, an Air India Boeing 777 received a bomb threat and was forced to make an emergency landing in the subarctic city of Iqaluit, Canada. Since Iqaluit had minimal support capabilities to handle the large number of passengers, the passengers were ultimately flown by the Royal Canadian Air Force to their final destination, Chicago.

“I think just the number and duration of these threats is unprecedented in the world, but it's the nature of aviation that something happens that wakes you up,” Campbell said. In the middle of the night, whether it's global conflict, a hoax, or a snowstorm in New York that caused some planes to be diverted to Pittsburgh or somewhere, that's all. Due to the nature of the game, it is part of the job".

Indian Airlines still doesn't know who made the fake call. Frankly, we are a private organization, so we don't know what motivated us to re-identify exactly who did this at a regulatory and industry level, in a more consistent, timely and expert manner, based on the nature and severity of the threats. What is the threat and therefore what actions should be recommended or taken? "

Perhaps Air India's biggest concern is the long-term retirement of existing long-haul aircraft, including the aging Boeing 777 and 787 Dreamliner that the company bought from the government when it was founded. These are intended to complement a record order for 470 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing, a $70 billion deal completed in February 2023. This is one of the largest single transactions in civil aviation history. The renovation of the existing fleet will cost the group $400 million. This includes the cabin overhaul of its wide-body fleet, which consists of 27 Boeing B787-8s and 13 Boeing B777s. The Airbus A320neo and A321neo single-aisle aircraft will also be upgraded, a process that has already begun.

“In particular, it is no exaggeration to say that the old aircraft we inherited do not meet this standard and it simply takes time. We're spending $400 million on seats to overhaul these planes. Since then, the seats have been undergoing certification.” This is likely to be a complete problem when installed on a wide-body aircraft.

Due to the nature of the post-Covid-19 supply chain, two different seat suppliers came to us and informed us that they would no longer be able to meet the delivery dates we had promised and possibly a little more for the modernization of Air India's 787s and 777s and significantly improved interiors. Only for products from mid-2025. Unfortunately, that's how it is. We have no control over it. “Many other airlines are affected by similar restrictions.”

The first set of new generation Boeing 787 Dreamliner seats are expected to arrive in April, be installed and then certified for use, "but until October next year, the Boeing 787 Dreamliners will begin the renovation process every month." And it is expected that the pace of reconstruction is accelerating. Air India's large-capacity Boeing 777s, which primarily fly long-haul flights to the US and UK, will need more time to modernize. The existing aircraft product is expected to be updated in 2025, but the full cabin refresh will not occur until 2026. As announced at the end of 2026, reconstruction is expected to progress slowly.

Meanwhile, Air India has introduced six new Airbus A-350-900 aircraft on its main routes to New York and London and will begin service to Newark in the coming weeks. While it is a welcome addition to the sophisticated offerings of traditional airlines, it is still years away from the new Air India. Campbell Wilson is aware of this. “Group-wide, we transport 60 million people every year. We operate over 1,200 flights per day. So it’s a mass transportation business and unfortunately sometimes it’s not perfect,” Wilson says. “But we need to push this process forward more consistently because I am just as passionate about bringing it to a level that consistently meets customer expectations.”