Air India finalising 'historic order' of new aircraft: CEO

New Delhi, Jan 27

Air India CEO Campbell Wilson on Friday announced that the flag carrier is finalising a "historic order" of new aircraft to strengthen its fleet as the airline marked a year of its take over by the Tata Group.

In a communication to Air India employees, the CEO said: "Finalising a historic order of new aircraft to power future growth."

"Even as we work on improving Air India, we have not shied away from other ambitious actions, such as merging Air India Express with Air Asia, or Vistara with Air India, or kicking off the establishment of a new InfoTech Centre, or an Aviation Academy. And that's not to mention our much talked-about short- and-medium term fleet expansion," he added.

As per industry sources and reports, the order may include 190 Boeing 737 MAX planes, 20 Boeing 787s and 10 Boeing 777X planes.

The sources said that this is nearly half of the order of the total of 495 jets which the airline has planned in the coming weeks to stay competitive in the aviation market.

Tata Group took over debt-laden Air India a year ago, on January 27, 2022, from the Central government, marking the beginning of a new journey for the carrier.

In November 2022, Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Tata Sons agreed to merge Air India and Vistara, with SIA investing $250 million in Air India as part of the transaction.

With the integration, Air India became the only Indian airline group to operate both full-service and low-cost passenger services.

It can optimise its route network and resource utilisation, be flexible and agile in capturing demand across market segments, and tap on a larger consumer base to strengthen its loyalty programme. This would reinforce its position as India's largest international carrier and second largest domestic carrier, allow it to offer more options and connectivity for business and leisure customers, and enable it to compete as a leading global airline.

The present management at Air India is driving the five-year transformation roadmap under the aegis of Vihaan.AI to establish itself as a world-class global airline with an Indian heart.