Air India Reflects On 2024 As A Year of Big Achievements

The last few years have been momentous for Indian aviation and Air India, the full-service airline that has served the nation for more than 90 years. The airline was founded in 1932 by J. R. D. Tata, and since its return to the Tata Group in 2022, it has been given a new lease on life and reinvigorated by the new owners and management.

A year of significant milestones for Air India

Last Friday, Air India described 2024 as a “year of consolidation” and released a snapshot of its major achievements and some insights into what it hopes to achieve in 2025. The airline noted that the mergers of Air India with Vistara and Air India Express with Air Asia India were completed in record time and were some of the most significant milestones in its journey so far.

Photo: Airbus

The airline has highlighted performance around key indicators, including rebuilding the fleet, enhancing the customer experience, developing the ecosystem and successfully completing the two mergers in a time span of just six weeks. Here is a summary of how Air India reflects on its significant progress in 2024.

Rebuilding a modern fleet continued in 2024

• Placed an order with Airbus for 100 aircraft, including 10 widebodies A350s and 90 narrowbody A320 Family jets, including the A321neo. This takes Air India’s total orders to 570 aircraft.
• Commenced long-haul international services from Delhi to London and New York using the new Airbus A350 widebody jets.

Photo: Eurospot

• Air India unveiled its three-class configuration on new A320neos, offering a new business, an all-new premium economy and a new economy cabin experience on domestic and short-haul international routes.
• Started a $400 million retrofit program of 67 legacy aircraft, commencing with 27 Airbus A320 narrowbodies.

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The program will see 67 of the airline’s existing aircraft receive new cabins and livery.

• Revamped aircraft usage by deploying its best narrowbody and widebody products on high-density and high-demand domestic and international routes.

Taking the passenger experience to new levels

• In 2024, the airline launched the new Air India experience, with new chinaware, tableware, glassware, bedding and amenity kits in business and premium economy classes on the Airbus A350 services. The upgrade will be progressively rolled out on the rest of the Air India fleet.

• Air India also changed how it calculated status in its loyalty program, switching from distance-based to spend-based accrual. It also re-branded the program to the Maharaja Club.
• Those changes helped Air India achieve a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of more than 70 on the Airbus A350s, 100 points higher than on its legacy widebody aircraft.

Two airline mergers were completed in six weeks

Air India said the mergers of Air India with Vistara and Air India Express with Air Asia India were completed in record time. It also highlighted the complexity involved with these key tasks forming part of the process.

• Transferring 270,000 Vistara bookings into Air India systems.
• The harmonization of processes and operational manuals.
• Aligning over 140 information technology systems.

Photo: Vistara

• Inducting more than 6,000 staff from Vistara.
• Transferring the aircraft and air operator certificates (AOCs).
• Consolidation of more than 4,000 vendor contracts.
• Migrating 4.5 million Club Vistara profiles to Air India’s Maharaja Club loyalty program.

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Air India & Vistara Loyalty Programs To Merge Under New Maharaja Club

The new loyalty program will become one of India’s largest.

Putting the programs in place to build the future

• In 2024, Air India commenced the construction of a 12-bay maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in Bengaluru. This will bring line maintenance operations across Group Airlines in-house, strengthening its self-reliance is a key area.
• The airline has established a 600,000-square-foot integrated aviation training academy in Gurugram, the largest in South Asia. It has also announced a new flying school at Amravati and a maintenance training school at Bengaluru.
• Air India has agreed with Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) to develop Bengaluru as a premier aviation hub for southern India.

Where the last two years have taken Air India

Most travelers have an understanding of the size of Air India, although the size of its new aircraft orders over the last two years has certainly highlighted where it is heading. The rapid growth of the middle class in India is driving the nation’s airline industry, which is now becoming the fastest-growing aviation market globally.

Photo: PradeepGaurs | Shutterstock

As 2024 draws to a close, the rejuvenated Air India has 300 aircraft, employs 30,000 staff and has flown 60 million customers in a year, with more than ten million of those now members of the Maharaja Club. Its growing fleet of aircraft operates 8,300 weekly flights on more than 300 routes to 103 international and domestic destinations.

The airline’s focus on customer experience is also paying off, as it has secured a 55% market share on metro-metro routes and has 29% of the overall domestic market. Further highlighting its success, Air India has built a 40% market share on its top 120 routes and increased its overall net promoter score by 40 points.

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