It has been a year since Tata Sons took ownership of Air India, and the airline has made significant changes. The carrier has announced Vihaan.AI, its well-defined roadmap to transform the airline over the next five years. “Hundreds of initiatives across 22 broad workstreams are underway to transform the airline over three phases: Taxi, Take Off and Climb,” Air India said in a release, adding that it is finalising a historic order of new aircraft to power future growth. In addition, the merger with Vistara, the acquisition of AirAsia India, and its merger with subsidiary Air India Express are also underway.
In year-on-year terms, since its takeover, Air India has increased its total fleet of operating aircraft to 100, an increase of 27%. It has also doubled its average daily revenue and increased its average daily passenger uplift by 72% since January 2022. On-time performance has improved from 70% in December 2021 to an average of nearly 90%.
The airline has increased the number of average daily flights and weekly international flights by 30% and 63%, respectively. It has announced/launched 16 new international routes increasing the frequency of nine others.
Air India has also committed over INR 30,000 crore to refurbish the interiors of its entire wide-body fleet by installing new seats and best-in-class inflight entertainment across all cabin classes. It has revamped its domestic in-flight menu with an assortment of gourmet meals, appetisers, desserts and refreshing beverages. An enhanced menu is due to be established on international routes shortly.
Air India has begun 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. It has added over 1,200 professionals across key functions to upgrade capabilities and support growth. It is also establishing a dedicated Information Technology centre in Kochi and a world-class Training Academy. The airline has also reduced a backlog of one million aged refunds to zero, and new cases are now being turned around in short order. It has also more than doubled its call centre manpower, reducing the average wait time by nearly 90%.
Talace, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons, acquired 100% of the Government of India’s equity shareholding in Air India and equity shareholding of Air India in Air India Express and Air India SATS Airport Services on January 27, 2022.
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