Tatas have unveiled a comprehensive transformation plan to revive the losing airline since taking over Air India in January of this year.
Air India is in talks with aircraft manufacturers about buying planes as the Tata group-owned airline plans to triple the size of its fleet from what it currently has. The airline is currently in the "taxiing phase," according to Air India Chief Financial Officer Vinod Hejmadi, and it will take two years for it to take off, consolidate, and switch into growth mode.
Tatas have unveiled a comprehensive transformation plan to revive the losing airline since taking over Air India in January of this year.
The plan focuses on five factors -- industry leadership, robust operations, commercial efficiency, industry best-talent and exceptional customer experience.
"In the Air India transformation journey, we are looking for, in the next five years, 30 per cent market share and we are planning to grow our aircraft fleet three times of what we currently have... We are looking forward to ensuring that we add on capacity for growth (and) discussions (with aircraft manufacturers) are going on to acquire the fleet," Hejmadi said.
He stated at the Aviation Insurance Symposium 2022 held here by Global Insurance Brokers Pvt Ltd that the airline had previously struggled for survival but is now on a growth trajectory following the Tata group's acquisition.
“We are at the moment looking at the taxiing phase, which is to fix the basics, to fix what was wrong in Air India and after six months of that, we have to look for the take off. And that will be about two years' journey when we take off, consolidate and go into the growth mode," he added.
To achieve all these, Hejmadi said to PTI the airline is investing heavily in technology, digitisation and manpower.
Over the next 15 months, the airline will take delivery of 25 Airbus narrow-body aircraft and five Boeing wide-body aircraft. According to a press release from the airline on September 15, there are five Boeing B777-200LRs, four Airbus A321 neos, and 21 Airbus A320 neos that are being leased.
Air India's narrow-body fleet stands at 70 aircraft. Out of them, 54 are in service and the remaining 16 aircraft will progressively return to service by early 2023. The wide-body fleet stands at 43 aircraft, of which 33 are operational. The rest will return to service by early 2023, as per the release.
In order to create operational synergies, the Tata Group has begun a process to evaluate options for combining AirAsia India and Vistara under Air India.
Vistara is owned by the Tata Group, which also owns Air India and Air India Express. Additionally, the group owns 83.67% of the domestic airline AirAsia India.
Singapore Airlines had on Thursday said it was in "confidential discussions" with Tata group to explore possible merger of Vistara and Air India.
Hejmadi, meanwhile, stated on Friday that Air India welcomes competition in the domestic aviation market, whether it be a duopoly or more than two airlines, as this will keep everyone on their toes.
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