By Aditi Shah and Aditi Calra
New Delhi (Reuters) -Air India’s self -elaborate crash, with over 200 passengers killed on Thursday, immersed the airline in its deepest crisis so far and will strike a severe effort to update its reputation and fleet.
After taking over the government from the government in 2022, Tata Group revealed ambitious plans to turn years of failure to an aging and outdated fleet and create a “world -class airline”, as CEO Campbell Wilson repeatedly says it, folk with competitors like the Emra.
The turn is aimed at dealing with countless problems, including constant flight delays, disgruntled customers, shortage of spare parts, delayed airplane supplies and years of financial losses.
“Larger aircraft and better maintenance should be the distinctive feature of Air India to survive. The right maintenance is what they need to look for, as Air India has had a check on the past,” said Vibhuti Deora, a former legal expert at the Indian accident investigation.
This past includes, while under state property, Boeing 737 Flight from Dubai exceeds the runway of a home airport and crashes into a gorge in 2010, killing 158 people. Most recently, his cheap unit Air India Express saw that a craft had escaped from the track in India in 2020, killing 21 people.
Just a few days ago, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told an international gathering of hundreds of airline executives in New Delhi that the country’s aviation industry is at a decisive moment of take -off.
On Thursday, however, Air India exchanged the bright red color scheme and the logo of its website for darker black and gray, covering it with a banner that wore the crash flight number: “AI-171”.
“For the airline, the most important is the identity of the brand with safety. This will be a major failure for the brand in this aspect,” says Dilip Cherian, a communications consultant and co-founder of the Public Relations Company.
“Hard day”
With her Maharaja mascot, the Air India was once known for its lavishly decorated aircraft and star service, supported by its founder, JRD Tata, the first commercial pilot in India.
But since the mid-2000s, the carrier’s reputation has deteriorated when financial problems are installed. He has flew wide -ranging planes in a poor condition and grounds some of his new Boeing 787 Dreamliners due to lack of spare parts.
When TATA regained control, the airline was “right in absolute shame,” said Reuters CEO in an interview in 2024, noting that some of its planes did not have product renovation as they were delivered in 2010-2011.