“Well, our operating fleet is going to be pretty flat this year (FY26), in part because of delays to delivery, but also because we’re taking aircraft out of service to do the refit, the Boeing B787s and the B777s in particular. And so, it means that we’re actually not able to grow. But it’s an investment for a good purpose,” said Wilson.
Air India currently has a fleet of 198 planes including 70 inherited from Vistara-the erstwhile full-service joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines. Separately, Air India Express operates 103 aircraft-36 Airbus and 67 Boeing-including 38 new Boeing jetliners from an October 2023 order. Nine more narrow-bodies are slated to join by this June.
Tata Group’s airline fleet has grown fourfold with capacity increasing sixfold since its acquisition of Air India in early 2022. Modifications of two of Air India’s 27 A320neo narrow-body aircraft have been completed and the rest are due by the September quarter. Also, B787-8 retrofits will start in April, followed by interim upgrades of 13 B777s. The carrier may also consider retrofitting additional narrow-body aircraft.
“There’s a couple (wide-bodies) that are coming this year, but there’s also a couple that are going this year for retrofit and some are old aircraft. Also, some that are coming to the end of their lease. So, we just have to navigate this period of flat capacity,” he said.
Air India will receive its first B787 sporting its new livery in H2 2025, while Air India Express is slated to add nine B737 MAX aircraft as part of its expansion.Air India Group collectively operates 56 domestic and 44 international destinations. In light of the fleet issues, “the domestic and short-haul international will be the one that’s growing tremendously. It’s not because that’s what we want to do, it’s just what we have to do. And that’s largely because the aircraft deliveries that we’re getting are narrow-body aircraft. And then we’re flat with the wide-bodies because of the refit,” Wilson explained.
At the time of its acquisition by the Tata Group in January 2022, Air India Group operated 323 weekly short-haul flights-228 to the Middle East, 29 to Southeast Asia, and 66 to SAARC. By January 2025, flights increased to 750 weekly-304 to the Middle East, 264 to Southeast Asia, and 182 to SAARC-shifting to a hub model with expanded Southeast Asia routes and higher frequencies, working in its favour.
Air India currently has an order book for 570 planes-350 Airbus planes and 220 Boeing jets. Of the total, 20 Airbus aircraft have been delivered including six wide-bodies.
Recent reports say Air India is in talks to acquire dozens of new wide-body jets from Airbus and Boeing.
To be sure, Air India isn’t alone in facing delivery delays from Boeing. This February, Boeing estimated it would deliver around two aircraft per month to Indian airlines, including Air India and Akasa Air, through this fiscal year.
At a recent event in Delhi, Wilson said the global aircraft shortage, driven by supply chain disruptions at Boeing and Airbus, could persist for 4-5 years.
