Air India CEO Campbell Wilson Predicts Growth in Domestic and Short-Haul Flights by 2025

Air India anticipates significant growth in domestic and short-haul international flights by 2025. This expansion is driven by the addition of narrow-body planes, according to Campbell Wilson, the airline's chief. The Tata Group-owned airline is undergoing a five-year transformation and aims to have a fleet of 400 aircraft by 2027. Currently, the Air India Group, including Air India Express, operates around 300 planes.

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Wilson highlighted that Air India's domestic market share stands at approximately 29%, with a 55% share on metro-to-metro routes. On the top 120 domestic routes, the market share is about 40%. The retrofit of legacy wide-body aircraft will begin in early 2025. "We had hoped to start retrofit of 787s and 777s by now. Unfortunately, the global supply chains in some areas are still recovering and seats in particular are a challenge," he stated.

Fleet Expansion and Retrofit Plans

The retrofit process will involve upgrading three to four aircraft monthly until all 40 legacy wide-body planes are completed. This initiative is part of Air India's strategy to enhance its fleet capabilities. The growth in 2025 will mainly come from domestic and short-haul international operations as more narrow-body aircraft join the fleet. Meanwhile, the number of available wide-body planes will decrease slightly due to the refit programme.

Air India has merged Vistara into its operations as part of Tata Group's consolidation efforts. Additionally, AIX Connect has been integrated with Air India Express. Wilson mentioned delays in acquiring all 50 white tail aircraft, initially expected by December this year. Of these, at least 35 Boeing 737 MAX planes have joined the fleet and are operated by Air India Express.

Challenges and Opportunities

The remaining white tail aircraft deliveries will extend until June next year due to issues at Boeing, including a recent strike. "50 white tail aircraft, all of them were to come by December this year... They will stretch up to June next year and that in itself has a little bit of impact," Wilson explained. White tail planes are those initially manufactured for one airline but later acquired by another.

Air India's legacy wide-body planes face challenges such as service quality complaints on long-haul flights to North America. Efforts are underway to address these issues. Wilson noted that leasing additional aircraft was necessary to avoid losing them to other airlines due to limited availability and delayed new aircraft deliveries.

Addressing Service Quality Issues

Without leasing these planes, expanding the North America network would have taken four to five years post-privatisation, leaving customers without non-stop services from India. The retrofit of Boeing 787 and 777s is set to start early next year and finish by mid-2027. Responding to recent low on-time performance, Wilson acknowledged challenges but emphasised the importance of maintaining service availability.

"Do we wish that things had been smoother for the punctuality part? Of course... the alternative could be not to have flights for a period of four to five years," he remarked. Despite these hurdles, millions have flown on these aircraft, appreciating the service's existence. He also pointed out that many aircraft were neglected over time, requiring extensive work for improvement.

Wilson concluded that while challenges remain, there is a strong market appetite for growth which Air India intends to seize. The airline continues its efforts to enhance service quality and expand its network strategically.