Tata Sons chairman launches a new Air India for the New India, with a hint of tech disruption

India is changing, and so is the national flag carrier Air India. The iconic brand that returned to the Tata group stable on January 27, 2022, after placing an order for a record 470 narrow and widebody jets, crossed yet another milestone with the launch of a new brand identity and livery in New Delhi Thursday.

The carrier that has implemented a five-year-long Vihaan.AI turnaround to become a leading global carrier will now operate with a new ‘Vista’ logo, a peak golden frame signifying a portal to send the airline into the realm of limitless possibilities.

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Suggesting that there was probably a little of Air India in every Indian, Tata Sons chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran said, “For all of us at the Tata group it is a passion and a big national mission. Our mission and job at the Tata group and Air India is to make this airline a truly iconic airline that every Indian is truly proud of. We are fully committed and we are all in this journey until we make this happen.”

He said that other than upgrading all human resources aspects the fleet required a lot of work. The airline has made one of the largest fleet orders both in terms of narrow and widebody aircraft but it would take some time before the planes are delivered. Therefore, the onerous challenge is to get the existing fleet to an acceptable level through an upgrade.

Chandrasekaran further promised to have the best technology in place at the airline over the next 12 months. "We will have the best of machine learning and the best of artificial intelligence deployed in Air India than in any other airline!" he told an emotionally charged audience comprising former and existing employees, vendors, and other stakeholders.

For the audience, the best part of the evening was the announcement that the iconic brand's Maharaja mascot has been retained to take India to the world. 

New India, Newer Air India

Noting the new look was reflective of the aspirations of a New India, CEO Campbell Wilson said, “Air India is in the midst of a total transformation. We have already covered a lot of ground, even if much of it may not be apparent to you yet. We have a long way to go, but we have made a good start.”

Wilson said that for starters there was now a business lounge serving each new international city served by the airline. A completely overhauled website and mobile app built from the ground up and offering a vastly improved experience with new and improved digital tools had been launched. By the end of the year, a completely new customer contact centre offering 24x7 service in nine Indian and foreign languages would be in place. And by early 2024, a new frequent flyer seamlessly interfacing with the multipurpose Tata Neu super app would get launched.

“In just a few months, the Airbus 350, Airbus’ most modern aircraft will arrive in India to join Air India’s fleet. Then in a year from now, the first of our 43 widebody aircraft will enter the hangar for a complete interior refit, including new seats and inflight entertainment at the cost of $400 million. It is the largest refit ever undertaken by an Indian airline.”

He informed while the approvals for the engineering refit were being sought, the airline was leasing 20 widebody aircraft this year to accelerate its product upgrade. While six of these aircraft were already flying, one-third of the carrier’s fleet would be operating with these upgrades. “And, of course, then there are 500 new aircraft that will come to take India to the new world.”

The Maharaja’s fight to reclaim his crown has just about started.