Air India revival ‘Everest of corporate turnarounds’; will take time, says CEO

Certainly not the finished product: CEO

“We made no secret of the fact that it was going to be a multi-year programme,” Wilson told NDTV in an interview. “It is certainly not the finished product. I know that there’s a huge amount of expectation and indeed impatience for the future of Air India to fully emerge,” he added.

The debt-ridden airline which was bought by the Tata Group in October 2021 is in the second of a five-year transformation plan. The integration of multiple airlines – Vistara, Air India Express and Air Asia India (now AIX Connect) – into Air India has brought along for its management the challenge of finding a common ground for staff with varied work cultures.

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The restructuring process also includes modernising the fleet, improve service quality and ramp up operational infrastructure.

Steady, but significant changes

Wilson says despite challenges, the management has effected a host of key changes.

“We have brought the average age (of staff) from 54 to 35, 9,000 new staff, brought four airlines into two, 140 IT systems, 100 new aircraft, new training academies and started a base maintenance facility,” he told NDTV.

It is also to be noted that the airline has been able to register a significant drop in its losses in the fiscal year 2024 – it reported a loss of ₹4,444 crore for FY24, a 60 per cent fall compared to the Rs 11,387 crore it logged in FY23, a year after Tata Group took over its management.

In an interview with CNBCTV18, Wilson said that Air India’s management had set a five-year timeline for the turnaround in view of the complex changes that will be required to revive the airline.

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“There was a reason why we said that it will be a five-year turnaround. There was a reason why the economist said that it was the Everest of corporate turnarounds. I think what we’ve achieved in a little over two years is significant,” he said.

On safety violations

The Director General of Civil Aviation (DCGA) between January and August this year, has imposed around Rs 2.8 crore on Air India for violating safety rules linked to operations over long-range critical routes, not adhering to time limitations set for operating crew and allowing “non-qualified” crew members aboard an international flight.

Wilson admits that there have been systemic failures. “Sometimes it’s legacy practice. Sometimes it is a matter of human oversight. Sometimes it’s a matter of a systemic gap or something that hasn't been addressed or mitigated through another means,” Wilson told NDTV.

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He says the company allows an external audit every six months, which is either done by IATA [International Air Travel Association] or other parties.

Balancing shareholder and customer needs

Upbeat about meeting expectations both of shareholders and customers, Wilson points to the competitive race within the aviation sector in regard to pricing and maintaining profit margins.

“The competitive dynamic of aviation and the market will mean the air fares will remain affordable. And of course, we want to fill our planes, so there’s always going to be a benefit to the customer in that respect,” he told CNBCTV18.