Air India's $400 million retrofit programme, which began earlier in the year for both its widebody and narrowbody aircraft with work already underway on the 27 A320neo aircraft, is expected to be completed in the middle of 2025. However, at The UK Aviation Club lunch event on December 3, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said that the widebody retrofit programme had slipped, with the narrowbody work now expected to be complete by the end of 2025.
Wilson said the widebody programme will now be complete by the end of 2026 or early 2027. The widebody retrofit comprises of 40 Boeing widebodies, including 777s and 787s.
“The narrowbody aircraft is progressing well, and should be complete by the middle of 2025,” said Wilson. “But the widebodies have been a constant source of frustration. In 2022, we committed $400 million, we selected the seats, we started the process of design and certification. But supply chain constraints have just been constant.”
Wilson said that the first widebody retrofit will “finally” begin in February next year.
Speaking on the sidelines at the event, Wilson said the main supply chain constraint centred around seats - particularly business class seat supplies.
The airline also recently completed its merger with Vistara in November, following Air India Express' merger with AIX Connect in October. Wilson said Indian regulators saw the benefit of the Vistara merger, believing the competition would elevate the Indian market as well as support its infrastructure. Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Wilson said the company would most definitely have to compete with low-cost carrier IndiGo but would focus on specific routes and markets that the two airlines share.
Wilson said that customers are “coming back” and that the market is “getting larger and larger” after a spell of diminishing trust in the airline.