Air India chief on fleet overhaul as retrofit runs two years late

Supply chain bottlenecks, particularly around aircraft seating and certifications, have slowed the rollout of upgraded wide-body cabins, including business and first class cabins, on Boeing 787 and 777 aircraft, according to chief executive Campbell Wilson. Air India expects the first renewed aircraft to join the fleet by March 2026.

“From a cost perspective, (the renovation) is on track. It’s within budget,” chief executive Campbell Wilson said. Mint.

Timelines have shifted due to post-pandemic disruptions affecting aircraft interiors and regulatory approvals.

“The bulk of that cost is the supply and production of the seats. It’s just a matter of when the seats will be delivered. It’s not a lot of cost. From a timing perspective, there have been some delays in some of the seats being produced by the manufacturers and some of those seats being certified,” Wilson said.

The modernization of Air India’s narrow-body aircraft is almost complete, but the wide-body fleet supporting the airline’s long-haul network is still awaiting development.

“The rise from what we used to be to where we are today has happened…I think, obviously we are, we could be on the morning of the fifth day (of a Test match).” -Campbell Wilson

Seats, suppliers and deliveries

Delays were made worse when a seat supplier dropped out of the program despite making a commitment.

“We got to the point where we were designing the product and doing final reviews of the prototypes, and the OEM told us they couldn’t continue with the program,” Wilson said. “They overused their resources. It cost us two years.”

As a result, Air India’s Boeing 787 refresh is nearly a year behind schedule, while the Boeing 777 program is almost two years behind the original timeline.

“The difference between the old product and the product we are moving forward with is huge,” Wilson said, adding that the replacement seats were old and difficult to maintain because replacement parts were difficult to source or manufacture.

Wilson said the problems were not unique to Air India.

“We are not the only airline facing this. There are many airlines in the same situation,” he said, attributing the delays to “post-Covid supply challenges faced by many OEMs (original equipment manufacturers).”

The shift in the consolidation program further exacerbates another constraint on Air India’s growth: manufacturers’ aircraft deliveries.

Airbus and Boeing’s aircraft deliveries are about a year behind original schedules, Wilson said. Air India expected to receive around 40 wide-body aircraft by early 2026 but has taken delivery of only two.

“When you add in the reinforcement delay and the delivery delay, it just pushes back the product upgrade and expansion plans we have,” he said.

The airline said deliveries are now starting to move again and it is not seeing any new warning signs at this time.

“We haven’t heard anything from manufacturers at this time that would concern us,” Wilson said. “They seem to be in a better position than they were before.”

vihaan update

Under Vihaan.AI, the five-year transformation plan launched after Wilson assumes office in July 2022, Air India is overhauling fleet interiors, lounges, digital systems, training processes and service standards.

“Most of the heavy lifting (under Vihaan.AI) has been completed,” Wilson said. “All the design, all the certifications, all that is done. All that’s left is mechanical distribution.”

“There has been an uptick from where we were before to where we are today,” Wilson said. Reiterating that the hard work on the transformation of Air India has been completed and the results are close but not yet fully completed, he said, “I think clearly, we may be on the morning of the fifth day (of a Test match).”

While the airline plans to operate around 20 aircraft with new interiors in 2026, the renewal of the entire fleet is expected to take another two to three years.

Despite delays, Air India introduced its first “Air India” interiors, called linefit in aviation parlance, on a Boeing 787 recently displayed in Hyderabad. A refitted older 787 with the same interior will join the fleet later this month.

The slow pace of upgrades also coincided with concerns about the condition of the aircraft. At least three out of every aircraft belonging to the Air India group have a recurring fault, the civil aviation ministry said in a report submitted to Parliament on February 5. Recurrent defects were found in 191 of 267 aircraft tested.

Air India executives said most of these were not safety-related but included problems such as old seats, torn seat covers and loose or non-functional tray tables or screens that could be attributed to the age of the fleet and delays in the replacement programme.

For context, Air India and Air India Express together operate a fleet of 297 aircraft comprising both Boeing and Airbus models.

The airline also launches new generation lounges starting from Delhi and ending with San Francisco.

“The luxury travel experience we aim to provide is now available long before you board the plane,” Wilson said at the launch of Maharaja Lounge at Delhi airport. Thursday’s Maharaja Lounge launch was part of the Vihaan.AI transformation plan announced by the CEO.

“The transformation is now becoming more and more visible,” Wilson said. “But full completion will not occur until the last plane is installed.”

Profitability pressure

While profitability is Vihaan.AI’s pillar, Air India’s financial performance has been shaped by geopolitical and regulatory headwinds.

Wilson cited the India-Pakistan conflict, global political changes, tariffs, visa restrictions and airspace closures as factors affecting operations.

“All of these things have an impact on an airline’s performance,” he said. “Unfortunately, there were many incidents in rapid succession that particularly affected Air India.”

Air India group reported the following revenue: ₹78,636 crore in FY25, up 15%, while losses widened in FY20. ₹10,589 crore ₹7,356.3 crore a year ago.

Wilson said the airline is already seeing revenue benefits on routes where new aircraft and interiors are deployed.

“We have been flying the A350 to New York and London for a long time and we can see a material improvement,” he said. “We can also see this in Dubai and Singapore and domestically where we fly the refurbished aircraft.”

A wider rollout of upgraded aircraft will eventually strengthen brand loyalty and pricing power, he said.

“As people become more confident about the product they are going to buy beyond the routes we have fenced off, this will start to manifest itself in brand reputation, loyalty and trust in Air India,” Wilson said.

Skeptics step back

Still, aviation experts say cabin upgrades alone will not determine whether Air India will regain passenger interest.

“Air India’s core revenue continues to come from its legacy ‘downstream’ A320 Fleet, which is in need of both urgent replacement and modernisation. Routes to Europe, UK and US are the airline’s bread and butter. And I still don’t understand why Air India is not actively using its A350 fleet on key European routes. This will help improve overall product and service quality,” said Mark D Martin, aviation expert and CEO of Gurugram-based Marting Consulting.

“While some of the conversion programs don’t really mean much in terms of gaining loyalty, Air India still needs to confront open questions around conversion, maintenance, engineering and flight operations systems and processes, and failures and malfunctions continue to happen. Everything that has been done seems to be merely cosmetic, something travelers don’t really care about in today’s competitive airline market. These systems have been created and perfected today by airlines like Cathay Pacific, Emirates and Qatar,” he added.