
Fleet could be flat, but the purpose is good: Air India chief Campbell Wilson
Air India Express will take delivery of several narrow-body planes during the year, allowing it to capture strong growth opportunities in the latter half of the year on domestic and short-haul international routes.
«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