Air India targets legacy fleet reliability boost with Singapore Airlines partnership: AI CEO

By Shafali Nigam

New Delhi [India], August 8 (ANI): Air India is intensifying efforts to improve the reliability of its legacy aircraft fleet, spanning the Airbus A320 family, Boeing 787s and Boeing 777s, as part of a wider operational upgrade programme, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson told its staff on Friday in a town hall meeting.

According to sources, the airline has zeroed in on persistent bottlenecks such as supply chain delays and spare parts shortages. It is working directly with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to fast-track solutions. The strategy involves close collaboration with shareholder partner Singapore Airlines, exchanging best practices on engineering, maintenance planning and operational efficiency.

During the meeting, CEO Campbell told airline employees that Air India is collaborating with our shareholder partner, Singapore Airlines, to exchange notes on industry best practices, sources said.

Sources said that the reliability push dovetails with Air India multi-year retrofit programme, which aims to modernise cabin interiors and systems on both narrowbody and widebody aircraft.

On the operational front, Air India has begun the long-awaited retrofit of its legacy fleet. The first Boeing 787-8 widebody aircraft was sent to the US in July, with its return expected by December 2025. After that, two aircraft will undergo retrofit every month, with all 25 remaining 787-8s upgraded by June 2027. In the narrowbody segment, 14 of 27 A320neo aircraft have already been retrofitted and returned to service, with the remainder set for completion by September 2025, the CEO said.

Despite recent operational challenges - including the Iran airspace closure and engineering safety pauses - Air India performance metrics remain strong. In the last two months alone, the carrier has flown approximately 4.4 million passengers across 33,000 flights, averaging 108,000 passengers daily with a year-to-date load factor of 84, the CEO said.

On-time performance targets of 80 for domestic and 72 for international services are being met, while the airline Net Promoter Score (NPS) rebounded sharply to 35 in July 2025, up from 23 in June and just 5 in July last year, the CEO added.

Sources also said that the CEO said in the meeting that more than 600 people across the Tata Group - under the banner of Air India Angels & Caregivers - mobilised in Ahmedabad to assist the next of kin of those impacted by the incident. Senior leadership has remained in constant touch with the families of crew members, while the airline has already disbursed interim relief compensation of Rs 25 lakh each to 194 families.

For employees, Air India has launched an array of support programmes, including Care Circles for ground and cabin crew, Reflection Sessions at its Aviation Academy, one-on-one counselling, peer support through Buddy @ AI, and online yoga sessions led by instructors from TCS Yoga Council and the Indian Yoga Association, the CEO said. (ANI)

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