Air India crash to challenge 'world class airline' ambitions

After taking the carrier over from the government in 2022, the Tata Group unveiled plans to reverse years of underinvestment in an ageing and outdated fleet and create a "world class airline", as CEO Campbell Wilson has repeatedly put it, on a par with rivals like Emirates.

The turnaround has been aimed at tackling its myriad problems under government ownership including persistent flight delays, disgruntled customers, a shortage of spare parts, poorly maintained planes and years of financial losses.

The cause of the crash, the first for a Boeing Dreamliner wide-body airliner, has not yet been determined and India's aviation minister said a formal investigation had begun. Air India has not commented on what caused the crash.

"Newer aircraft and better maintenance should be the hallmark for Air India to survive. Proper maintenance is what they should be looking into, because Air India has had a chequered past," said Vibhuti Deora, a former legal expert at India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau.

That past includes, while under government ownership, a Boeing 737 flight from Dubai in 2010 that overshot the runway at a domestic airport and crashed into a gorge, killing 158 people. In 2020, an aircraft of its low-cost unit Air India Express skidded off a runway in India, killing 21 people.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told an international gathering of hundreds of airline executives in New Delhi on June 2 that the country's booming aviation industry stood at a crucial point.

On Thursday, Air India's website swapped its bright red colour scheme and logo for a more sombre black and grey one, covering it with a banner that carried the crashed flight's number: "AI-171".

"For an airline, the most important thing is the brand's identity with safety. This will be a major setback for the brand in that aspect," said Dilip Cherian, a communications consultant and co-founder of public relations firm Perfect Relations.

'Difficult day'

With its maharajah mascot, Air India was once known for lavishly decorated planes and meticulous service championed by its founder, JRD Tata, India's first commercial pilot.

But after the mid-2000s the carrier's reputation worsened as its financial troubles mounted. It has flown wide-body planes with business class seats in poor condition and grounded some of its new Boeing 787 Dreamliners for a lack of spare parts.

When Tata regained control, the airline was "just in absolute shambles", its CEO Wilson told Reuters in a 2024 interview, noting that some of its planes hadn't had a product refresh since they were delivered in 2010-2011.

Air India has a 30% share of the domestic passenger market and a fleet of 198 planes, of which 27 are 10 to 15 years old and 43 are more than 15 years old, the civil aviation ministry told parliament in March. Air India Express had 101 planes, with 37% more than 15 years old.

The plane that crashed on Thursday was 11 years old, according to Flightradar24.

Rival Indian airlines such as IndiGo operate newer planes.

Air India, which is part-owned by Singapore Airlines, has placed orders for 570 new jets in recent years and is in talks for dozens more.

While it has aggressively expanded its international flight network, it has also faced persistent complaints from passengers, who often take to social media to show soiled seats, broken armrests, non-operational entertainment systems and dirty cabin areas.

It has been ranked the worst airline for flight delays in Britain, where its departures were on average just under 46 minutes behind schedule in 2024, according to analysis of Civil Aviation Authority data by the PA news agency published in May.

It has also been reporting losses since at least fiscal year 2019-20. In 2023-24, it reported a net loss of $520 million on sales of $4.6 billion.

For now, Air India faces the task of investigating one of India's worst aviation disasters.

"This is a difficult day for all of us at Air India," CEO Wilson said in a video message on Thursday.

"Investigations will take time."