As a part of Air India’s five-year transformation plan, Air India has on boarded as many as 3800 staff across crew and other functions. Over a period of last 6 months, it has rolled out more than 29 new policies under the five-year transformation plan.
The loss making entity which was taken over by the Tata Group since January last year is undergoing lot of changes. The group has invested USD 200 million in information technology systems and is also committed to investing USD 400 million to completely refurbish existing aircraft.
An order for 470 planes has been placed by the Group.
The Two-Phase Transformation Plan
There are two phases in which the transformation happens, first being the transformation plan Vihaan.AI, that focussed on “addressing legacy issues of the airline at scale and laying the foundation for future growth”. The airline, while speaking about the second phase “Take Off” said that in this phase, it will focus on developing the platforms, processes and systems needed to build toward excellence.
The CEO & MD of Air India, Campbell Wilson said that great strides have been made in the 1st six months in order to tackle many issues that have built up over the years.
Also, the airline has come a long way in establishing foundations for growth.
He said in the release that “Our record-setting aircraft order, the commitment of USD 400 million to completely refurbish existing aircraft, the investment of USD 200 million in new IT, and the recruitment of literally thousands of staff are but a few of the significant investments being made to restore Air India to the upper echelons of global aviation. As we move into our Take Off phase, we will start seeing these investments bear fruit”.
The second phase will also witness the consolidation of AirAsia India and Air India Express, The Low Cost Carrier (LCC) entity has already merged their core reservations platforms, websites, and customer-facing systems.
The release said that “Vistara will also be merged with Air India following the grant of regulatory approval. The development of a world-class training academy will also take shape as also the future direction and configuration of the airline’s line and base maintenance”.
Revamping Menus, Policies, Fleets, PIPs and Much More
Air India, in addition to launching premium economy seats for the first time, shall also revamp its menus on international and domestic routes.
Over 29 new policies across employees to improve welfare, designed new remuneration programs for legacy staff have been rolled out.
The release said that the airline expedited fleet expansion with 36 leased aircraft, including 11 wide-body planes being delivered in 2022-23, as well as “restored to service, or decommissioned pending sale, all long grounded aircraft”.
It said that feats like highest-ever single-day passenger revenue, highest-ever cargo revenue, highest-ever ancillary revenue, and highest-ever load factor have been attained by Air India.
Air india has also reached on comprehensive spares and support agreements to improve worldwide reliability. There is also a performance improvement programme which is underway with Boeing to improve the reliability of 787 planes.
As per the release “In-flight Entertainment (IFE) systems have been restored to working order on nearly all first and business-class seats, with economy seats being up to nearly 90 per cent”.
More than 10 codeshare agreements have been reactivated and in active alliance discussions with other airlines.
