Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: It was once the national carrier. Now it is back to the group which had given birth to it – the Tata Group. Air India is still making huge losses but that has not kept it from doing what needs to be done to make the long journey from red to black. The airline is these days retrofitting its legacy Boeing 787-8 planes.
According to CEO and MD Campbell Wilson, the retrofit of its first wide-body aircraft is a visible symbol of the momentum behind the airline’s transformation.
The airline expects to complete retrofitting of seven more planes this year as it upgrades the fleet of these aircraft that is key to the airline’s long-haul operations.
The carrier, which is in the midst of an ambitious transformation plan, has received the first of its retrofitted legacy Boeing 787-8 plane, which has 250 seats in three class configuration of business, premium economy and economy. The plane landed in the national capital on April 13.
On April 19, the airline unveiled the retrofitted, twin-aisle B787-8 (VT-ANT) that underwent a nose-to-tail cabin refresh at Boeing’s Modification Center in Victorville, California. Painting was done at AeroPro, an aircraft paint facility in San Bernardino, California.
The carrier, which is in the midst of an ambitious transformation plan, has received the first of its retrofitted legacy Boeing 787-8 plane, which has 250 seats in three class configuration of business, premium economy and economy. The plane landed in the national capital on April 13.
The Tata Group-owned airline has 33 Boeing 787s or Dreamliners in its fleet of over 190 planes. Apart from the 26 legacy Boeing 787-8s, there are 7 Boeing 787-9s, including 6 from Vistara and the first tailor-made plane that was inducted in January this year.
At a briefing in November last year, CEO Wilson had said that in 2026, Air India Group would receive 6 new wide-body planes — a mix of Boeing 787-9s and A350-1000s — along with 20 narrow-bodied aircraft. Air India Group comprises Air India and Air India Express.