Air India working on 'top-to-bottom transformation': CEO Campbell Wilson

Tata Group-owned Air India has been working on a top-to-bottom transformation for the last three years and has also placed orders for 570 planes, the airline's CEO and MD Campbell Wilson said on Monday.

"It is a transformative time for India and a transformative time for Air India...," Wilson said.

The loss-making carrier is undergoing an ambitious transformation plan starting from 2022.

According to Wilson, Air India did not enjoy the kind of investments that many carriers had for some decades and was not an attractive partner for Star Alliance.

There were no active interline partnerships with any Star Alliance carriers three years ago.

"Thanks to the commitment we have made to customer experience, fleet, expansion and quality, we have now established interline agreements with all of the Star Alliance carriers," he said during a chat on the sidelines of the annual general meeting of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in the national capital.

Now, Air India also has codeshare partnerships with almost all Star Alliance carriers.

Generally, a codeshare partnership allows an airline to book its passengers on its partner carrier on a single ticket.

An interline arrangement refers to a pact to issue and accept tickets for flights that are operated by the partner airline.

Wilson said the airline has been working on a top-to-bottom transformation for the last three years.

Air India flies to 112 destinations. Currently, Air India has a fleet of 191 planes, including 64 wide-bodies and 127 narrow-bodies.