Air India to temporarily decrease flights on certain US routes

New Delhi, March 20

Air India CEO Campbell Wilson on Monday announced that the flag carrier will temporarily decrease the frequency of flights on certain US routes due to issues surrounding shortage of crew.

The CEO said the the carrier will reduce few flights to San Francisco and Newark airports for the next three months.

Air India has a staff strength of around 11,000, including flying and non-flying employees.

While speaking at the CAPA India Summit, Wilson said: "There is a lot happening,", adding that the airline has taken significant steps to improve passenger experience.

Without revealing any further details, the Air India CEO also said that the airline plans to use GPT4 -- the latest, enhanced version of AI chatbot ChatGPT, to improve its functions.

Last week, Air India offered a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) to its staff.

This was the second such offer since the takeover of the airline by the Tata Group in January 2022, and will remain in force till April 30.

Sources have said that it will be for non-flying staff.

Recently, Air India announced a mega order to purchase 470 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus to support its growth plans.

It has also announced plans to lease 36 aircraft of which two B 777-200 LR have already joined the fleet.

After 69 years as a government-owned enterprise, Air India and Air India Express were welcomed back into the Tata Group in January 2022.