Air India launched its Mumbai-London flight in June 1948. It was the first regular service by an Asian carrier to Europe and with its launch Air India challenged established global airlines of the era.
Seventy six years later, the Tata group run airline is attempting to do something similar if not as historic. Air India is investing in new products and putting a greater emphasis on customer service as it woos customers on international routes.
Over 66 million passengers flew on international routes to/from India in FY 2024, a growth of 22 per cent over the previous year. While Indian carriers have widened their footprint, foreign airlines control 55 per cent of India’s overall international traffic. Air India’s consolidated international market share is 24 per cent and the airline aims to grow it further with network expansion and service improvements.
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27 touch points
The airline management has identified 27 touch points mapping the entire customer journey including booking process, airport experience, in flight service and on arrival baggage delivery etc.
While the website and app has been redesigned, customercare contact centres have been strengthened too. “Earlier, whenever customers would call our contact centre they had to wait for 3-4 minutes for their call to be answered but now the wait time is in seconds. The average handling time is eight minutes which is at industry level. We are doing pretty well on closure of requests and grievances,” said Air India’s chief customer experience officer Rajesh Dogra.
Air India is providing lounges across all international airports through tie-ups and hopes to ready its exclusive lounges in Delhi, New York and San Francisco next year. It is also looking at other cities such as Chennai, Dubai, Hyderabad, London and Mumbai to develop exclusive airport lounges. “We are also working closely with F&B partners and ground handling partners so that end customer experience is of the standard we have benchmarked,” Dogra said.
Earlier this month Air India deployed brand new Airbus A350 aircraft on Delhi-London route elevating customer experience. While the A350 aircraft has full flat seats in business class, Air India also introduced new soft products including wool-blended blankets, pillows made from Egyptian cotton among others. The tableware on the aircraft is a mix of fine bone China and other materials that makes its light weight and aids in saving fuel.
“We have seen an uptick in business class occupancy on the Delhi-London route and revenue is also picking up,” Dogra said. This is crucial as the United Kingdom is the fourth largest air travel market for India. Over four million passengers flew between two countries in FY 2024 and though Air India is a market leader with 28 per cent share it faces stiff competition from rivals. To attract frequent flyers it has tied up with Bicester Collection, an open air shopping destination in outskirts of London.
Next, Air India plans to roll out the new soft product (blankets, pillows etc) on all its US flights from November and its entire global routes by next March. Menus on domestic routes on Vistara and Air India operated flights have been aligned. Air India’s A320 planes are being reconfigured with the addition of a premium economy cabin for uniformity in service. The soft products of the two airlines will be harmonised after a few months.
While there is a positive change, every thing is not hunky dory. The refurbishment of Boeing 777 and 787 aircraft has been delayed. Air India’s on time performance has been below par compared to peers. A few days back the airline was forced to refund a passenger after his video of a shabby first class cabin in Boeing 777 aircraft went viral.
Yet, experts believe that Air India is poised to reap success in coming years. “Air India has managed to secure a part of its A350 fleet and adopted a product that is now widely available in the market. Although they entered the game late, this delay is a legacy issue from the airline’s time under government ownership. Under the Tatas, Air India has been able to innovate and has plans to catch up with tier-I carriers,” said Mayur Patel, (head of Asia), OAG Aviation, a data platform for the global travel industry.
“Whilst competition is intense, there are enormous home market advantages. With dynamic new management, investment in fleet and products, Air India is poised to reap profitable success in the years ahead,” added John Strickland, Director of JLS Consulting.
The writer was in London at the invitation of Air India