New Delhi: Air India’s effort to rebuild itself into a globally competitive airline could take up to 10 years, according to Tata Sons Chairman N. Chandrasekaran, signalling that the carrier’s transformation may be significantly longer and more complex than initially projected.
In the Tata Sons annual report, Chandrasekaran described the airline’s revival as a long-term undertaking involving far more than financial restructuring. The process requires extensive changes across Air India’s fleet, technology, workforce, operations and organisational culture.
The latest estimate represents a major extension of the original timeline under Vihaan.AI, the five-year transformation programme launched by Air India in September 2022. That strategy aimed to reposition the airline as a leading global carrier by 2027.
However, several challenges have slowed the pace of the airline’s overhaul.
Chandrasekaran pointed to continuing disruptions in global aviation supply chains, which have affected the availability of aircraft parts and other critical components. Delays in receiving equipment and replacement parts can disrupt maintenance schedules, restrict aircraft availability and complicate plans to expand airline capacity.
Modernising Air India’s legacy technology systems is another significant task. Older platforms used across reservations, operations, customer service and internal management must be replaced or integrated with newer systems. Such changes are difficult to implement quickly across a large airline without creating further operational disruption.
Fleet renewal is also central to Air India’s transformation. The airline must modernise existing aircraft while expanding its network and introducing additional planes. At the same time, it needs to recruit and train a much larger pool of pilots, engineers, technicians and other skilled aviation professionals.
The carrier is also working to change its internal culture following decades under government ownership and its subsequent acquisition by the Tata Group. Building consistent service standards, improving operational discipline and integrating different teams are expected to remain important parts of the revival process.
The longer turnaround outlook comes during a difficult period for the airline. Air India has faced operational pressure from airspace restrictions linked to tensions in West Asia, rising aviation turbine fuel costs and the continuing impact of the fatal aircraft crash reported last year.
The airline is also approaching a leadership transition. Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Campbell Wilson is expected to step down on September 30 after completing his notice period. Air India had not announced a successor at the time of the report.
Financial performance remains another major concern. Air India reported a net loss of ₹22,238 crore for the financial year ending March 2026, compared with a loss of ₹10,859 crore in the previous financial year.
The widening loss highlights the challenge of balancing major investments in aircraft, technology and personnel with the need to improve profitability. Although passenger traffic in India has recovered strongly since the pandemic, airlines continue to face high operating costs, aircraft shortages and aggressive competition over ticket prices.
For Air India, the coming years are therefore likely to focus on strengthening reliability, modernising its fleet, upgrading passenger experience and building a stable operational foundation. Chandrasekaran’s assessment suggests that the Tata Group is preparing for a prolonged transformation rather than expecting immediate results.
The airline’s success will ultimately depend on how effectively it manages costs, improves service quality, develops its workforce and addresses continuing supply-chain and operational constraints.
