Tata Group-controlled Air India will reveal a new brand identity, induct India’s first Airbus A350 and take a call on premium cabin seat options in the coming months as it gets closer to launching the next phase of its business plans.
“It is hard to believe that we are already into the second half of 2023, and one quarter of the way through Vihaan.AI’s ‘Take Off’ phase,” Campbell Wilson, MD and CEO, Air India said in a note sent to the company’s employees.
The first of the 40 wide-body A350s will be delivered to Air India in the coming months. The delivery is part of the order for 470 aircraft that Air India placed with Boeing and Airbus in mid-February this year.
Ratan Tata and N Chandrasekaran were at the Air India office on Thursday where the Air India team discussed offering new cabin options on aircraft that are yet to be inducted.
“Yesterday (Thursday) we spent a few hours with Ratan Tata and our chairman N Chandrasekaran reviewing possible ‘premium cabin’ seat options for our future aircraft. It was wonderful to have the personal engagement and input from two of our most important stakeholders, and (the) possibilities are truly exciting,” Wilson added.
Air India is awaiting the nod of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for merging Vistara into itself. Last month the anti-trust regulator had issued a show cause notice to Air India on the proposed merger. The CCI asked Air India to furnish the reasons for the merger, giving the airline 30 days to respond.
“We welcome this request, which is a normal and important part of the evaluation process,” Wilson added.
Last year, CCI had approved the acquisition of the entire shareholding in Air Asia India by Air India which is being integrated with Air India Express.
Other upcoming ‘milestones’ for Air India include co-locating to the new Vatika campus in Gurugram, launching a new group loyalty program and adopting new rostering and crew manager tools.
“Transitioning from a PSU structure to a private sector model, whilst at the same time bringing erstwhile and new Air Indians into a common grade and compensation framework, and preparing the ground for potential integration of Vistara, is not a simple process,” Wilson added.