Air India done with first phase of its 5-year turnaround plan. What is next on the cards?

Air India today announced that it has concluded the first phase of its five-year transformation plan, called Vihaan.AI. The first phase in the airline's transformation journey focussed on addressing legacy issues of the airline and laying the foundation for future growth.

In January 2022, the Tata group took over the management and control of the airline, it bought from the India government at Rs 18,000 crore. Later in September 2022, Air India had unveiled Vihaan.AI, its multi-stage transformation roadmap towards becoming a "world class global airline with an Indian heart."

After the conclusion of the first phase of Vihaan.AI, the airline said that it will focus on the next phase of the transformation plan, called Take Off, which is focused on developing the platforms, processes and systems needed to build toward excellence. This phase will also witness the consolidation of the group airlines AirAsia India

and Air India Express. Vistara will also be merged with Air India following the grant of regulatory approval.

In recent months, Air India placed an historic order for 470 aircraft and announced massive outlays for refurbishing existing aircraft and IT upgrade.

Commenting on the conclusion of the first phase of the transformation plan, CEO Campbell Wilson said: “The first six months of our transformation journey has engaged and united Air Indians behind a common cause, and made great strides in tackling many issues that had built up over the years. Our record-setting aircraft order, the commitment of $400 million to completely refurbish existing aircraft, the investment of $200 million in new IT, and the recruitment of thousands of staff are but a few of the significant investments being made to restore Air India to the upper echelons of global aviation."

During the first phase of its transformation plan, Air India had also revamped menus on international and domestic routes, launched Premium Economy seats for the first time ever on select long-haul flights and insourced some of the critical customer service functions.

The airline also said that more than 10 lakh legacy refund cases were settled between February - December 2022. On the employee front, it onboarded more than 3,800 staff across crew and other functions to support growth and improve customer experience, rolled out new organization structure and revamped roles across levels.

It also expedited fleet expansion with 36 leased aircraft, including 11 widebodies, being delivered in 2022-23. This helped the airline to add 6 new international routes while increasing the frequency on another 24.