With 113 aircraft currently listed as being part
of the Air India fleet, the Indian flag carrier has been working hard to modernize its collection
of jets and become a more efficient airline. In recent years, Air India has been continuing
to take delivery of new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners, as well as A320neos from Airbus. On the other side
of fleet management, the Star Alliance member has decided to officially close the books on over 50
years of Boeing 747 operations. Most recently, the carrier announced a pair of massive orders with
Airbus and Boeing - orders that will hopefully assist in securing the airline's dominance in
the highly-competitive Indian air travel sector. So today, let’s take a deep dive
into the fleet of Air India! We know many of you have requested that we
specifically cover Air India ever since we started doing these deep dive videos. One
major reason we decided to wait was due to all the rumors that the airline
was going to place a massive order. Well, we’re glad that we waited - since we now
get to include this major deal in this video! But first, let’s examine the
airline’s current collection of jets. Consisting of over 100 aircraft,
the Air India fleet is as follows: A319-100: 18 A320-200: 9
A320neo: 27 A321-200: 14
777-200LR: 5 777-300ER: 13
787-8: 27 While our focus will be on the Air India mainline
fleet, we should also mention that the airline has regional subsidiaries and partners in the
form of Air India Express, and Alliance Air. The former operates 26 Boeing
737-800s while the latter, according to Planespotters.net,
operates two ATR42s and 18 ATR72s. Air India Express is a low-cost division
of Air India and offers budget flights from its Indian bases at Kochi, Delhi,
Mumbai, Mangalore, Thiru-va-nantha-puram, and Kozhikode, among others, to 14 international
destinations, mainly to the Middle East. As we noted last year, the carrier
is hoping to include even more international destinations in the years to
come. Meanwhile, Alliance Air and its fleet of turboprops focuses on providing expedient
domestic regional service across the country. Going back to Air India - It was on
January 27th, 2022 that Tata Sons, via its fully owned subsidiary, Talace, announced
that it had acquired a 100% stake in the airline. At the time of this announcement, it was
stated that Vistara would be merged with Air India once regulatory approval was achieved. Despite airlines probably wishing that mergers
and acquisitions could happen overnight, these processes can take months but more
often several years. Indeed, it was back in late-2020 that Korean Air purchased rival legacy
carrier Asiana with plans to merge operations. With plans for this merger to be complete in 2024,
the airlines have had to seek approval from not just local courts but also foreign governments
- including UK and European Union jurisdictions. At the time of this video’s production,
legal filings and detailed paperwork are being drafted to move the merger process
along for the two India carriers. For Air India and Vistara to merge operations, a number
of groups within India must sign-off. Authorities include aviation regulator, the DGCA, as
well as the Ministry of Civil Aviation, and the Reserve Bank of India. Additionally,
the Competition Commission of India will need to certify that the merger will not
affect consumer rights in the country. Several smaller bodies, such as the Airport
Authorities of India will need to be approached to clear dues and redeem balances. This entire
process is expected to take up to six months. As we alluded to earlier, an airline merger like
Vistara and Air India will be subject to approval from foreign competition and anti-trust regulators
as well. Airlines decide which countries to approach depending on their presence in the
respective markets and, at this point in time, the owners of Air India and Vistara have identified
Singapore and the EU as two jurisdictions for which they would like to secure regulatory
approval. Singapore being high on the list is primarily connected with Singapore Airlines' 25.1%
stake in the merged Air India-Vistara carrier. There are many hurdles to jump,
though, while not fully guaranteed, the merger process is expected to go smoothly. In mid-February, Air India announced
the most extensive fleet replacement and modernization program ever seen
with two massive orders. Split 50/50 (in terms of transactional value) between
Airbus and Boeing, each order boosts the planemakers' order books to the tune of
$34 billion based on current market values. Air India's Airbus order will add 210
A320neo family narrowbodies for its short and medium-haul operations, with 40 A350s
for higher-capacity and long-haul services. More specifically, the order breaks down
to 70 A321neos and 140 A320neos, plus six A350-900s and an impressive 34 A350-1000s. The
A350 order represents the re-introduction of Airbus widebodies into the Air India fleet.
The airline previously operated A300s, A310s, and A330s but these days seems to prefer
operating an all-Boeing widebody fleet. And speaking of Boeing, Air India's deal with the
American planemaker is for 220 new aircraft. This order is split between 190 Boeing 737 MAX,
20 Boeing 787s, and 10 new 777X airplanes. While we know the carrier will want the
mid-size 787-9 variant of Dreamliners, the deal fails to specify which MAX variants
the airline will pursue. With this deal, Air India becomes the 11th named customer
for the 777X, following in the footsteps of Emirates, ANA, British Airways, and
others. Alongside the firm orders, Air India has secured options for an additional
70 airplanes, including 50 737 MAX and 20 787s. Commenting on the Boeing order, Campbell Wilson,
CEO and Managing Director of Air India said: "These new airplanes will enable us
to dramatically expand our network, both domestically and internationally, and
will come with a completely new, world-class onboard product enabling passengers to travel
in the highest levels of comfort and safety. With this order, we are delighted to take our
long relationship with Boeing to a new level." Considering Air India's last major order
was all the way back in 2006 for 68 jets, this recent development could
be seen as long overdue. Over the years foreign carriers have eaten away
at the carrier's international market share, with competition being led by the Middle Eastern
giants, Emirates, Qatar, and Etihad, and European ones like British Airways, Lufthansa, and more.
On the domestic front, Air India was reduced to a fraction of the market, commanding under
10% of the low-margin but high-revenue sector. Competition has been fierce - coming not
just from numerous low-cost carriers, but also from full-service rival turned partner,
Vistara. Things had to change quickly for the airline's survival, and this is exactly what
Tata is aiming to do with its mega order. With extensive backlogs held by the two major
planemakers, the majority of high-quantity aircraft orders are long-term deals. Air India's
commitments to Airbus and Boeing are no exception. However, the carrier has been and will continue
to be taking some 'new' aircraft in the short term as well, with most of these jets existing
outside of mid-February's big announcement. First, we can expect the airline to introduce
the Airbus A321neo into its fleet in the very near future. In fact, a number of these airframes
in Air India colors have been spotted at Airbus facilities outside Hamburg in recent weeks, with
one jet taking its first flight on February 27th. Coming from an order placed in September 2022, the
carrier will be taking a total of four A321neos in addition to a total of 21 A320neos which are
already in the process of being delivered. At the same time that Air India announced its
near-term acquisition of A320neo family jets, it also noted that it would be taking possession
of five second-hand Boeing 777-200LRs. These aircraft will actually be leased to Air
India. Previously operated by Delta Air Lines, the US carrier retired its 777-200LR fleet in late
2020 and now has an all-Airbus widebody fleet. According to Air Insight Group, the jets
will be deployed on routes from major Indian cities to the United States. With Delta
refreshing the interiors of these jets in 2018, Air India is able to offer a premium economy
cabin on long-haul flights for the first time. The carrier added two of these ex-Delta 777s in
November 2022 and is thus expecting three more in the near future with the 'mini-order'
expected to be wrapped up by March 2023. In addition to the 777-200LRs, Air India
also plans to add six more Boeing 777-300ERs by the first half of 2023. On the Airbus side, the airline already knows
which specific A350 airframes it will be operating. Indeed, the six A350-900s ordered
as part of its mid-February blockbuster deal will be jets originally ordered by Russian
carrier Aeroflot. With sanctions imposed on Russia making the jets now undeliverable to
Aeroflot, Air India will soon accept A350s with the following manufacturer serial numbers
(MSNs):589, 592, 594, 558, 554, and 555. With the A350s scheduled to join the airline by
the end of the year, Aerotime notes that Air India plans to use the Aeroflot cabins already installed
on the jets. At a media briefing on February 27th, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Air India group,
Campbell Wilson noted that the decision to keep the Russian airline's cabins in the short term
is due to time and supply chain constraints. With the very last brand new Boeing
747 being delivered earlier this year, it seems fitting to also briefly discuss
the end of Air India's own 747 operations. Like many operators around the world, Air India
grounded its Boeing 747 fleet when the pandemic struck and travel restrictions were imposed.
While many were hoping that the carrier would follow in the footsteps of Lufthansa and
revive its 747-400 fleet, all hope was lost when India’s aviation regulator, the DGCA,
de-registered the aircraft in April 2022. Air India Boeing 747-400A few months later, in
November 2022, Air India announced that it had chosen Skytech-AIC to help sell its four remaining
747-400s. The aircraft, aged between 26 and 30 years, have only ever flown for the airline. There
were expectations that the jets would be picked up for freighter conversion by interested parties.
However, with several months having passed, it doesn't look like Skytech-AIC or the airline
have found buyers. Indeed, ch-aviation.com data indicates the four jets are still owned by
Air India and are now marked "to be scrapped." While United Airlines, Qantas, and many other
airlines commemorated and celebrated an end to their respective 747 operations, it looks
like Air India's Queens of the Skies will fade quietly and largely unnoticed. For the
sake of comparison, Qantas held a special ceremony in Sydney in 2020 while, in 2017, United
Airlines operated a special farewell flight from San Francisco to Honolulu, producing a video
covering the occasion, as you can see here. Despite Air India's jumbo jets disappearing
silently without any fanfare, the airline is sure to celebrate and commemorate the
arrival of its new big jets once they're delivered - particularly with types such
as the Airbus A350-1000 and Boeing 777-9. It’s an exciting time for Air India. With a
new owner and a pending merger with Vistara, the carrier will hopefully regain
some of its former glory and once again become an airline Indians can be proud of. But what do you think of Air India's
current and future fleet? Which of its future jets are you most excited to fly on?
Share your thoughts by leaving a comment!
