&w=3840&q=100)
Air India teams up with Singapore Airlines to boost safety: CEO Wilson
After the fatal crash of its Boeing 787-8 aircraft that killed 260 people on June 12, the Tata Group-owned airline has come under increased regulatory oversight and the carrier is pursuing efforts to stabilise its operations.
During a townhall with the employees, Wilson said the airline has started the retrofit of its wide-body fleet and the first legacy Boeing 787-8 plane, sent for retrofit to the US last month, will join back the fleet by December this year, according to sources.
The airline has 26 legacy Boeing 787-8 planes and all of them are expected to be retrofitted by June 2027. The retrofit of all legacy 27 A320 neo aircraft will be completed by September 2025.
Against the backdrop of some Air India aircraft facing technical snags, Wilson told the staff that the carrier is working on improving the reliability of its planes, especially the legacy fleet of Airbus A320 family aircraft, Boeing 787s and 777s.
As part of improving the operational efficiency, Air India is working closely with Singapore Airlines, which holds a 25.1 per cent stake in the airline.
Air India is collaborating with Singapore Airlines to "exchange notes on industry best practices", Wilson said at the townhall.
The sources said Air India is working with the Singaporean carrier on various areas of improvement, including engineering and operations.
Wilson, who is the CEO and MD of Air India, said the airline has also identified various bottlenecks regarding supply chain and availability of spare parts, and is working with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to resolve the issues.
According to him, the airline's Net Promoter Score (NPS), an indicator of customer satisfaction, saw a dip from June 13-17 due to Iran airspace closure and disruptions, additional safety pause and engineering checks and sentiment around AI171 accident.
Later, NPS rose to 35 in July from 18 in June, he added.
Air India has a fleet of around 190 planes and aims to complete the retrofit of all the legacy Dreamliners by the middle of 2027.
There are a total of 33 Dreamliners with Air India -- 26 legacy Boeing 787-8s and 7 Boeing 787-9s.
Once the first retrofitted legacy Dreamliner is back in December, the airline will start sending two legacy Dreamliners every month for retrofit.
These retrofitted planes will have a three-class configuration each comprising 20 Business Class, 25 Premium Economy and 205 Economy class seats. Currently, the airline's Boeing 787-8s have 18 Business and 238 Economy class seats each.
The carrier has already started the heavy refresh programme of the legacy Boeing 777s. Heavy refresh of an aircraft includes having new carpets, seat covers, cushions and fixing broken seats. The refresh of these planes is expected to complete by the end of this year.
On June 12, the airline's Boeing 787-8 aircraft enroute to London Gatwick crashed into a building soon after take-off from Ahmedabad, killing 260 people, including 241 passengers who were onboard the ill-fated plane. One passenger survived.
The retrofitting of the carrier's 27 legacy A320 is in progress, with the process being completed for 14 such planes. The remaining 13 aircraft are expected to be retrofitted by the end of September.
Air India has also decided to retrofit its 13 legacy A321 ceo planes that were earlier planned to be taken out of service.
In December 2022, the airline announced the USD 400 million comprehensive retrofit programme covering both legacy narrow-body and wide-body planes.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Air India widebody fleet upgrade delayed again, likely to be done by October 2028
NEW DELHI: Air India's upgrade of its legacy widebody fleet has been delayed again. The airline now hopes to complete the task by October 2028, about a year longer than the five-year plan announced earlier. Supply chain constraints since Covid have delayed Tata's $400 million fleet retrofit programme for "delivering a world class flying experience and enhancing operational reliability across its legacy fleet". The airline said it had finally started the upgrade programme for its legacy widebody fleet with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The work is now expected to finish by October 2028, "with the timeline having shifted due to supply chain delays". In its last few cash-starved state-owned years, Air India had no funds for cabin maintenance or upkeep, and poor in-flight experience on those planes remains among the biggest irritants for passengers on long-haul routes on which these aircraft are deployed. "Air India has commenced the widebody retrofit programme for its legacy B787-8 aircraft, with the first of 26 aircraft (VT-ANT) having flown to a Boeing facility in Victorville, California, in July. A second aircraft is scheduled to depart for the same facility in Oct, with both expected to return to service in December. Retrofit programme for Air India's B787-8s, now on a steady schedule for completion by mid-2027, will introduce brand-new interiors featuring a three-class configuration," the airline said in a statement. Starting early 2027, the airline will additionally retrofit 13 of its legacy Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, aiming for completion by Oct 2028, with the timeline having shifted due to supply chain delays. As part of a reliability enhancement programme, Air India said it would upgrade the avionics and other critical components of the 26 legacy B787-8 aircraft. "This is intended to reduce operational disruptions." Additionally, seven of the 26 B787-8s will undergo heavy, scheduled maintenance (D-checks) in Victorville. The airline said the retrofit programme for 27 legacy narrowbody A320neo aircraft commenced last Sept. It is "progressing per schedule".
News18
2 hours ago
- News18
We want to know the truth, we want transparency: US lawyer on AI 171 crash
Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], August 11 (ANI): The lead US attorney, Mike Andrews, representing over 65 families affected by the tragic AI171 plane crash here, emphasised the importance of transparency and truth in the ongoing investigation.'We want to know the truth, we want transparency and exactly what happened," Andrews told ANI. 'These families want to know, and they deserve the respect to know what happened to their loved ones."'We also met the survivor and his family. This appears to be a very humble and hardworking family that is suffering a horrific tragedy. We are currently working on several potential theories that could have caused the throttle control malfunctioning system," he area of focus is the potential impact of moisture on the system. 'One question is whether or not moisture can affect the systems and cause a problem," Andrews explained. He also slammed the ongoing compensation delays for the victims' families, noting that such a 'bureaucratic process" would not have existed if former Chairperson of the Tata Group, Ratan Tata, had been highlighted the late Ratan Tata's legacy of compassion, suggesting his presence could have prevented such hurdles faced by the grieving families.'Even in the US, we know who Ratan Tata was. We know a little bit in the US about his work ethic and his focus on being humble and taking care of his employees and so we know that if he were here today, we don't believe employees and victims and people who were on the aeroplane and on the ground would be subjected to a bureaucratic process in which they're delayed payment," he July 26, Air India released Rs 25 lakh in interim compensation payments to the families of 147 of the 229 passengers who lost their lives in the crash and 19 others who lost their lives on the ground. These payments will be adjusted against the final compensation to be determined Tata Group has also established 'The AI-171 Memorial and Welfare Trust' in memory of the victims. The Trust has pledged an ex gratia payment of Rs 1 crore for each deceased individual and also supports the rebuilding of the BJ Medical College Hostel infrastructure, which was damaged in the accident, and provides assistance to first responders, medical personnel, and other support workers affected by the June 12, Air India flight AI171, a Boeing 787-8 aircraft, crashed shortly after it took off from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, killing 260 people, including 229 passengers, 12 crew members, and 19 people on the ground. (ANI)
News18
2 hours ago
- News18
Putting the puzzle together: Attorney Mike Andrews on AI171 crash
Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], August 11 (ANI): The lead US attorney, Mike Andrews, representing over 65 families affected by the tragic AI171 plane crash here, outlined the complexities of the ongoing litigation and stated that the 'challenges initially are putting the puzzle together, finding out what happened."Speaking to ANI, Andrews said that the challenge lies in determining the cause of the crash and identifying whether or not there is a defect that contributed to the tragedy.'There are always challenges in litigation. There are many challenges in product liability litigation. Not only do we have to start where we are now in determining what happened, but we also have to determine whether or not there is a defect that caused this," Andrews explained. The investigation will examine potential design or manufacturing issues, as well as maintenance problems, to piece together the events leading up to the crash.'We need to determine whether the problem stems from design or manufacturing issues, or if it's a maintenance problem. Sometimes it's a combination of the two. So the challenges initially are putting the puzzle together, finding out what happened," he highlighted the intricacies of the case, stating, 'Did a defect render this product unfit for its intended purpose? Was it foreseeable that it was going to be used in this way? Did someone misuse it, and did it fail under its ordinary use?" The investigation will also scrutinise the aircraft's complex electrical and computer systems to determine if any uncommanded or erroneous inputs contributed to the crash.'So, in this case, the question is whether it is foreseeable that a plane will take off. What happened behind the scenes? This is a very complex, complicated, electrically driven, computer-operated aircraft. What other things could have gone wrong? Did the pilots make the inputs, or did the computer call for an uncommanded, uncontrolled, erroneous input that led to this?" he lawyer emphasised the importance of analysing alternative designs that could have prevented or mitigated the crash. 'Once we make those determinations, we begin to look at things like alternative designs. Are there designs out there that could have prevented this from happening, could have mitigated the injuries, could have made it less likely?" On June 12, Air India flight AI171, a Boeing 787-8 aircraft, crashed shortly after it took off from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, killing 260 people, including 229 passengers, 12 crew members, and 19 people on the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) of India later released the preliminary report into the tragic crash, outlining the harrowing sequence of events that unfolded within 90 seconds of takeoff. It noted that both engines of the aircraft shut down unexpectedly during the initial climb, leading to a catastrophic loss of thrust and rapid crash represents one of the deadliest aviation accidents in India in recent history. (ANI)
