Air India Will Be Transformed Under Tata Sons: Better Meals, Smartly Dressed Crews & More

The Air India saga is by now well known throughout the country. The saga that started in 1932 as Tata Airlines has finally come to a full circle. Now Tata Group has acquired a complete 100 percent stake in Air India from the Government of India.

In 1953, Air India was nationalized and was split into two – a domestic airline and an international carrier. Under the ownership of the government, the airline is often mocked in international circuits for various reasons. But now with the change in ownership, a lot is going to change at the Airline. The new owner has many pressing issues to address, right from the food quality to better quality planes and better on-time performance, all of which made Air India, the erstwhile national air carrier a laughing stock.

So what are the changes we can expect in the operation of Air India? Here, we bring you a few of the changes that Tata is planning to implement in the coming days, or has already implemented  –

Better on-time performance of flights

Time is and will be money for each flier. Hence to cater to the need of travelers all endeavors of Tata will have to be made by the crew members to ensure that the doors are closed 10 minutes before the flight’s departure.

Calling passengers as “guests”

With new ownership, we are going to see a fundamental shift in the culture of the company. The employees have been told by the Tata Group that there will be a change in the “image, attitude and perception” of Air India. Now onwards, cabin crew members have been instructed to address all passengers as “guests” and the cabin crew supervisors will have to ensure safety and service standards are provided to the guests.

Smart and well-groomed cabin crew members

Henceforth, the crew members will have to be smartly dressed and well-groomed. There also be will be grooming executives who will be conducting checks at the airports.

Enhanced in-flight meal service

During the initial days, enhanced meal service will be provided to passengers on select flights. This enhanced meal service will be expanded to passengers in all Air India flights in a phased manner. The “enhanced meal service” will be served on the Mumbai-Newark flight and five Mumbai-Delhi flights on Friday.

Consolidated network

Undoubtedly, Air India is India’s biggest international airliner and now has over 200 aircraft and over 80 domestic and international destinations. The group now has two full-service carriers — Vistara and Air India — along with two low-cost airlines — Air India Express and AirAsia India — and a ground and cargo handling company, AISATS. The company now plans to pilot synergies between all its airlines to compete in various market segments.