Air India CEO sees 2026 as year of ‘most significant change’ as carrier looks to induct 26-30 new planes, accelerate legacy jets’ retrofit programme

Of the 570 aircraft ordered by the Air India group, 524 are yet to be delivered. And even the ones delivered by Boeing and Airbus were white-tails—planes made for some other carrier but diverted to Air India. Wilson said Monday that the first line-fit aircraft manufactured for Air India—a Boeing 787-9—is expected to join the airline’s fleet in December. Air India currently has a fleet of 187 aircraft, while its low-cost carrier arm Air India Express has 110 planes. According to Wilson, 28 new line-fit planes made for Air India should have been inducted by now, but with manufacturers grappling with supply chain woes, not even one has been delivered so far.

“The first line-fit aircraft produced specifically for Air India which is a 787-9 should arrive just before Christmas and also go into service in January. Throughout the course of 2026 we should receive six new wide-bodies, a mix of 787-9s and (Airbus) A350-1000s along with at least a couple of dozen narrow-body aircraft,” Wilson said.

“…2026 is when I think from a customer experience perspective people will notice the most significant change. Thus far, we’ve been working very much behind the scenes on systems and processes, people, and capabilities that will support the future Air India. And of late, we’ve been also completing the refit of the interiors of our narrow-body aircraft. Presently about 83 per cent of the narrow-body fleet has been upgraded,” the Air India CEO said.

Cabin refit and upgradation is part of Air India’s product transformation plan. Over the years, Air India had developed a reputation of having run-down aircraft cabins and an ageing fleet as the then government-owned airline was under severe financial stress. The Tata group acquired Air India from the government in early 2022. While the new owners have inducted various new aircraft and placed massive orders for planes to be delivered over the coming years, the poor health of legacy aircraft was a major concern for the airline which now harbours global ambitions and wants to offer a world-class product to flyers.

Air India has now decided to retrofit another 17 narrow-body aircraft, which it had earlier planned to retire. It has decided to keep these aircraft—some A321 and A320 planes—because of slow deliveries of new aircraft from Airbus and Boeing. Additionally, around 70 aircraft that belonged to Vistara—which merged into Air India in November last year—will also start going for conversion into Air India livery and cabin branding in phases from this month.

But Air India will be returning some leased Boeing 777 wide-body jets to lessors as per their contracts, and retiring three of its own legacy Boing 777s, which in effect would mean that it would end 2026 with aircraft capacity similar to the beginning of the year.

Currently, Air India’s new brand identity and product—which the carrier introduced after its privatisation, is available on 80 per cent of its domestic flights and 52 per cent of its international flights. By the end of 2026, it will be present on 96 per cent of the airline’s domestic flights and 81 per cent of its international flights as the wide-body fleet retrofit programme takes off and brand new aircraft also start rolling in. The retrofit programme, particularly for its legacy wide-body jets, has been delayed due to supply chain woes and new seat shortages.

According to Wilson, the first two retrofitted wide-body Boeing 787-8 aircraft will return to service in the first quarter of 2026, and the retrofit of all 26 legacy 787-8 planes is expected to be completed by mid-2027 as the airline will be pushing two-three legacy Boeing 787-8 aircraft into refit every month. Meanwhile, the retrofit programme for the legacy Boeing 777 aircraft is likely to start in early 2027, and should be completed by mid-2028.

Air India’s wide-body aircraft with modern interiors—new aircraft plus retrofitted legacy planes—are likely to double to 36 by

end of 2026, accounting for 57 per cent of the airline’s wide-body fleet, up from 31 per cent at present.

“…notwithstanding the headwinds that we have faced in the last few months whether it be AI-171 or other events (like Pakistani airspace closure), we’re continuing our capital expenditure commitments in view of the fact that we have so many aircraft coming and still expect to deploy them, and need to staff them and maintain them. The fleet will be 50 per cent modernised by the end of next year and more and more of our long-haul international destinations will be served by refitted aircraft with new seats, new entertainment, Wi-Fi and the new FnB (food and beverage),” Wilson said.

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