If you prefer to book Air India flights, among the top 10 airlines for US-India travel, there’s some good news worth your attention. In a recent interview with Bloomberg, CEO Campbell Wilson dropped hints at adjusting international airfares to fleet upgrade delays and older aircraft in operations. While flight tickets to India are touching new highs on the fare scale with the summer holiday season nearing for Indians in North America, Air India’s fare deals may go downwards for Indian Diaspora. It seems like a strategic move to compensate overseas Indians for not-so-pleasant flying experience and retain them, at the same time.
In the interview with Bloomberg, Air India’s CEO offered an insight into the airline’s strategy. Speaking openly about the current state of the fleet and the fierce competition in international markets, he said, “People choose an airline for many things- price, travel duration, affinity with the culture or the food or just the perception of quality. Because we know that our fleet is not consistent, we may price accordingly.”
This statement is indicative of an impending drop in Air India fares to USA and other destinations. Air India operates in a highly competitive international space, where carriers like Emirates, Etihad, and Singapore Airlines offer comfort, luxury, seamless connectivity, and pleasant flying experience – all in one package. While Air India has the monopoly of operating nonstop flights, its wide-body aircraft fleet – especially Boeing 777s used for long-haul international service – is still awaiting much-needed modernization.
Both delivery of brand new aircraft as part of the multibillion dollar deal with Boeing and Airbus, and the retrofit of widebody B777s have been hit by global supply chain issues affecting aircraft manufacturers. This situation continues to keep Air India’s network expansion plans in a limbo and force older aircraft into operations with increased maintenance overheads, according to CEO Campbell Wilson.
With no confirmed timeline in place for the widebody retrofit project, Air India has taken a short-term approach to cabin overhauls on the existing B777-300ERs. Undeniably, something is better than nothing. This interim refurbishment being carried out by a subsidiary of the Singapore Airlines Group, will remain in progress through 2025.
B777s’ temporary cabin overhauls on flights from India to Washington DC, Chicago, and San Francisco, include new seat covers, cushions, curtains, and carpets reflecting Air India’s new brand identity. Additionally, you may see improved lavatories, meal tables, armrests, galleys, and cabin walls in the coming days. However, the legacy aircraft will see major upgrades to seating, inflight entertainment systems, and other amenities in the retrofit project that is yet to see the daylight.
“A majority of Air India’s intercontinental passengers are yet to experience the world-class service and hospitality available on the brand new A350-900s operating to New York JFK, Newark EWR, and London Heathrow from New Delhi. Among our customers, those who booked Air India tickets to New Delhi from New York/Newark in the past few months traveled on A350-900s and experienced what the airline is aiming for,” said CEO of IndianEagle.com, the most trusted air-ticketing partner of Indians in the US.
