Air India completes one year with Tata Group; CEO says progress has been ‘nothing short of stunning’

Tata Group-controlled Air India CEO Campbell Wilson on Friday said that its progress over the last 12 months has been "nothing short of stunning".  Tata Group took over the operations of debt-laden Air India a year ago, on 27 January 2022, from the Central government, marking the beginning of a new journey for the carrier. Tata Group tabled a winning bid of  Rs 18,000 crore as the enterprise value of the airline against a reserve price of Rs 12,906 crore. The bid comprised a payment of Rs 2,700 crore and retaining a debt of Rs 15,300 crore. 

Campbell, in a note to his colleagues on Friday, said that though there is much more to be done in the near future, it is "finalising a historic order of new aircraft to power future growth".  

Air India CEO Campbell added that along with other initiatives and improvements over the last one year, the airline has also spent time on 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," the CEO and MD of Air India said in a communication to the employees. 

“Taken together, the progress over the last 12 months has been nothing short of stunning, even if so much of what we have been working on has been behind the scenes, building platforms and capabilities so that our future ambitions can take flight. There is of course much more that needs to be done, and everyone - internally and externally - is hungry for us to do it," he added.  

He further said that more than Air India’s successes and records, how the team responds to the lapses in the system would define its future path.

Some of the highlights of the first year were:  

• Total operating aircraft increased by 27 per cent to 100 

• The number of average daily flights increased by 30 per cent 

• Weekly international flights increased by 63 per cent 

• 16 new international routes launched or announced.  Frequency increased on 9 others 

• Average daily passenger uplift increased by 72 per cent 

• Average daily revenue has doubled 

• Average daily frequency per domestic route has increased by 81 per cent 

• Call centre manpower has been more than doubled, reducing average wait time by nearly 90 per cent 

• On-time performance has improved from 70 per cent in December 2021 to an average of nearly 90 per cent 

• A backlog of one million aged refunds reduced to zero, with new cases now turned around in short order. 

• Revamped its domestic in-flight menu with an assortment of gourmet meals, appetisers, desserts, and refreshing beverages to satiate taste buds. The airline will also shortly introduce an enhanced menu on its international routes 

• Launched the first phase of new customer interfaces including website, mobile application, as well as proactive customer notification systems 

• Added over 1200 professionals across key functions to upgrade capabilities and support growth 

• Commenced co-locating employees in a centralised location in National Capital Region, ahead of a new state-of-the-art facility in Gurugram opening in mid-2023 

Earlier, Reuters reported Air India is set to place an order for 190 Boeing 737 MAX narrow body planes along with 20 Boeing 787s and 10 Boeing 777X to mark the first anniversary of its acquisition from the central government.