In his first press briefing following Air India’s historic bulk order of 470 aircraft, CEO Campbell Wilson on Monday confirmed that the list price is at $70 billion.
On February 14, Air India signed a letter of intent to buy 250 aircraft from Airbus. These include 140 A320neo, 70 A321neo single-aisle planes, 34 A350-1000, and six A350-900 wide-bodies.
Air India had also signed an intent to buy 220 aircraft from Boeing. These include 190 B737 MAX, 20 Boeing 787s, and 10 Boeing 777Xs. Air India also has options for an additional fifty 737 MAXs and twenty 787s.
Wilson said on Monday that there is “enormous” potential and efforts are on to make the group a significant international player.
He also said that the process of integration of Vistara with Air India is underway and is now awaiting approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
“Eventually Air India will have to let go of the Vistara brand,” he added. “There is a desire to carry the heritage of Air India and Vistara into one entity. Vistara is recognised domestically whereas Air India is recognised globally.”
Speaking about the road ahead for the airline, Wilson said that the work over the past few months has been foundational, after years of underinvestment.
He added that the airline has recruited 1,200 ground staff, 300 staff for airports, and an additional 200 cabin crew.
“One key area that we have focused on is IT (information technology). We have invested nearly $200 million over the last year and this coming year in improving the platform and of course in reliability and product. In terms of product, we have invested $400 million in refurbishing the interior of our wide-body aircraft and the first such aircraft should enter service in the middle of next year,” he said.
The CEO also said that they have added 16 new routes, increased capacity by 80%, and doubled the airline revenue.
Wilson signed off by saying that the hope is to retain the “Maharaja” and that the Intention is to end up with one full-service airline and one low-cost carrier in the group.
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