Supply-chain bottlenecks, particularly around aircraft seats and their certification, have slowed the rollout of upgraded wide-body cabins, including business and first class on Boeing 787 and 777 aircraft, according to chief executive Campbell Wilson. Air India now expects the first retrofitted planes to join the fleet by March 2026.
“From a cost perspective, it’s (retrofit) on track. It’s on budget,” chief executive Campbell Wilson told Mint.
Timelines have slipped because of post-pandemic disruptions affecting aircraft interiors and regulatory approvals.
“Most of that cost is the procurement and production of seats. It is just a matter of when those seats are delivered. Not so much the cost. From a timing perspective, there were some delays in production of some of the seats by the manufacturers, and in the certification of some of those seats,” Wilson said.
The modernization of Air India’s narrow-body aircraft is nearly complete, but the wide-body fleet, which anchors the airline’s long-haul network, is still waiting to be upgraded.
“The upliftment from where we were to where we are today has happened…I think, clearly, we are, may be in the morning of the fifth day (of a Test match).”
– Campbell Wilson
Seats, suppliers, and deliveries
The delays worsened after one seat supplier exited the programme despite having committed to it.
“We got right to the point where we had designed the product and were doing the final inspections of the prototypes, and that OEM told us they couldn’t continue the programme,” Wilson said. “They had overcommitted their resources. That cost us two years.”
As a result, Air India’s Boeing 787 retrofit is about one year behind schedule, while the Boeing 777 programme is nearly two years behind original timelines.
“The difference between the older product and the product we’re moving towards is very large,” Wilson said, adding that the seats being replaced are obsolete and difficult to maintain because spare parts are hard to procure or manufacture.
Wilson said the problems were not unique to Air India.
“We’re not the only airline that has faced that. There are many airlines that have been in the same position,” he said, attributing the delays to “post-Covid supply challenges that many OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) faced.”
The slippage in the retrofit programme is compounding another constraint on Air India’s growth: aircraft deliveries from manufacturers.
Aircraft deliveries from Airbus and Boeing are running about a year behind original schedules, Wilson said. By early 2026, Air India had expected to receive nearly 40 wide-body aircraft but has taken delivery of only two.
“When you layer in the retrofit delay and the delivery delay, it’s just pushed back the product upgradation and the expansion plans that we had,” he said.
The airline said deliveries have now started moving again and that it is not currently seeing fresh warning signs.
“At the moment, we’re not hearing anything from the manufacturers that would cause us concern,” Wilson said. “They seem to be in a better position than they were before.”
View Full Image
Vihaan update
Under Vihaan.AI, the five-year transformation plan launched after Wilson took charge in July 2022, Air India has been overhauling fleet interiors, lounges, digital systems, training processes, and service standards.
“Most of the heavy lifting (under Vihaan.AI) is finished,” Wilson said. “All of the design, all of the certification, all of that is done. What remains is the mechanical rollout.”
“The upliftment from where we were to where we are today has happened,” Wilson said. “I think, clearly, we are, may be in the morning of the fifth day (of a Test match),” he said, reiterating that hard work on Air India’s transformation is done, the results are close but not fully finished yet.
The airline plans to operate around 20 aircraft with new interiors in 2026, while the full retrofit across the fleet will take another two to three years.
Despite the delays, Air India recently inducted its first “made-for-Air India” interiors, called linefit in aviation parlance, within a Boeing 787, showcased in Hyderabad. A refitted legacy 787 with the same interiors will join the fleet later this month.
The slow pace of upgrades has also intersected with concerns over aircraft condition. In a report submitted to Parliament on 5 February, the civil aviation ministry said that at least three out of every planes of the Air India group had a recurring defect. Of 267 planes tested, recurring defects were found in 191.
Air India executives have said most of these were not related to safety, but involved issues such as older seats, torn seat covers, and loose or non-functioning tray tables or screens, attributable to the age of the fleet and delays in the retrofit programme.
For context, Air India and Air India Express together operate a fleet of 297 aircraft comprising both Boeing and Airbus models.
The airline is also rolling out new-generation lounges, starting with Delhi and followed by San Francisco.
“The luxury travel experience that we aspire to provide is now available long before you get on the aircraft,” Wilson said at the launch of the Maharaja Lounge at Delhi airport. Thursday’s Maharaja Lounge launch was part of the Vihaan.AI transformation plan that the CEO announced.
“The transformation is now becoming more and more visible,” Wilson said. “But full completion won’t be until the last aircraft is fitted.”
Profitability pressure
While profitability is a core pillar of Vihaan.AI, Air India’s financial performance has been shaped by geopolitical and regulatory headwinds.
Wilson cited the India-Pakistan conflict, global political changes, tariffs, visa restrictions and airspace closures as factors affecting operations.
“All of these things have an impact on the performance of an airline,” he said. “Unfortunately, there’s been quite a few happening in quick succession that have particularly impacted Air India.”
Air India group reported revenue of ₹78,636 crore in FY25, up 15%, while losses widened to ₹10,589 crore from ₹7,356.3 crore a year earlier.
Wilson said the airline is already seeing revenue benefits on routes where new aircraft and interiors are deployed.
“We’ve been flying the A350 to New York and London for quite some time now, and we can see a material uplift,” he said. “We can also see it on Dubai and Singapore, and domestically where we fly the refitted aircraft.”
The broader rollout of upgraded aircraft, he said, should eventually strengthen brand loyalty and pricing power.
“As people become very assured of the product they’re going to get, more than just the routes we’ve ring-fenced, that will start manifesting in brand reputation, loyalty and confidence in Air India,” Wilson said.
Sceptics push back
Still, aviation experts say cabin upgrades alone will not determine whether Air India regains traveller appeal.
“Air India’s mainstay revenue continues to come from its legacy ‘hand-me-down’ A320 Fleet which needs both immediate retrofit and modernization. Routes to Europe, the UK and the US is the bread earner for the airline. And I still don’t understand why Air India is not actively using the A350 fleet on key European routes. This would help improve the overall product and service quality,” said Mark D Martin, aviation expert and chief executive at Gurugram-based Marting Consulting.
“Some of their transformation programs, while good really don’t do much in terms of winning loyalty, Air India still needs to face up to blunt questions of transformation, maintenance, engineering and flight operation systems and processes continue to have failures and breakdowns. All that is being done appears to be merely cosmetic, something travellers don’t really care in today’s competitive airline market. These systems have been created and perfected today by airlines such as Cathay Pacific, Emirates and Qatar,” he added.
#Air #India #chief #fleet #overhaul #retrofit #runs #years #late
