Air India CEO Campbell Wilson has reportedly said that since there is inconsistency with the airline’s fleet, the fare will be decided accordingly to attract passengers
Air India is eyeing to attract 35 million passengers by offering cheaper fares to make up for other issues faced by its customers. The airline didn’t specify the details of the discount it is planning to offer, Bloomberg reported, citing an official. The Tata Group-owned airline’s move comes at a time when it is struggling to deliver quality services and has come under the radar for the same as well.
“People choose an airline for many things – price, travel duration, affinity with the culture or the food or just the perception of quality,” Air India CEO Campbell Wilson told Bloomberg. The airline’s chief mentioned that since there is inconsistency with Air India’s fleet, the fare will be decided accordingly.
To improve customers' experience, the airline has reduced travel duration by decreasing transfer times at airports to within 180 minutes and is likely to make more such moves to make the travel experience smoother.
The salt-to-power conglomerate is taking strides to transform Air India post its acquisition in 2022. As of January 2025, Air India had a fleet of 205 aircraft, catering to domestic, regional and intercontinental routes. Besides this, Tata Group’s airline has placed an order for 474 new aircraft with Airbus and Boeing to expand its wings both nationally and internationally, according to Aviation A2Z.
While the Tata Group is making huge bets to modernise and transform Air India, it is facing a setback due to delayed supply of aircraft by Boeing and Airbus. As of December 9, 2024, only 41 out of the total place orders were delivered, according to Air India’s website.
The present move by the company is reportedly to ease the soaring issues that the airline is facing, including increasing complaints from the customers. Since Air India’s homecoming, the salt-to-power conglomerate has faced criticism for broken seats, bad customer service and on-ground support staff.
On the financial side, the conglomerate airline has made improvements as Air India Limited losses have narrowed down nearly 50% from Rs 13,967 crore in FY23 to Rs 6,697 crore in FY24, according to Tracxn data.