NEW DELHI: Brainstorming is on at the highest levels of Tata Group and the aviation ministry to put Air India back on track after the spate of bad news led by the deadly AI 171 crash and regulatory actions in past few months. Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran on Friday met Union aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu and aviation secretary Samir Kumar Sinha. The meeting came after three days of detailed discussions between the airline management led by CEO Campbell Wilson and officials led by the secretary that have led to concrete suggestions emerging from the same.
“We have discussed all issues threadbare including those related to maintenance, leadership and communications. Something positive will come out of this. India needs strong carriers and govt will support airlines wherever needed. The results will hopefully be visible in coming days once the suggestions are implemented,” said people in the know. One such meeting went on till well after 10 pm earlier this week.
Sources say Chandrasekaran informed govt about the steps being taken by the airline post AI 171 crash and some recent incidents o bolster safety. “Basically, it was informed how AI plans to win back flyers’ confidence,” they said.
It is learnt the areas identified during the recent meetings for immediate attention include airworthiness, engineering and maintenance. A lack of spares, for instance, often forces aircraft to fly under “minimum equipment list” (MEL) for a long time. MEL is a list that conditionally allows aircraft to be used with some equipment inoperative with the condition that the same does not impact safety and that it would be replaced within a certain timeframe.
The main issue, say multiple people involved in the exercise, is of culture. “Vistara was merged into AI last Nov, ideally it should have been the other way round. But that is done. Both the airlines have a very different culture and AI is now facing post-merger issues. During the meetings, solutions were suggested. The main issue is not operations but it is about engineering and maintenance,” they said.
For some time, having the better run Singapore Airlines (SIA) — which has 25.1% stake in AI with the rest with the Tatas — play a more visible handholding may be considered. It’s not about the image of AI alone, which has taken a beating, but also the Maharaja’s new promoters — Tatas and SIA.
The focus has to be on ensuring 100% safety and not growing rapidly. AI has cut flights post the Ahmedabad crash. “The culture has to change to safety first not just for AI but all airlines. Sacrifice growth but ensure safety. That has to be the firm message across the board,” they said.
The example being cited is of Boeing which has been through a rollercoaster in recent years from being a “marvellous organisation once celebrated for engineering excellence” to an airline cutting corners for commercial reasons when it tried to counter competitor Airbus’ best-seller A320NEO planes with a hurriedly made B737 MAX. After two MAX crashes in quick succession, Boeing is now trying hard to win back customer airlines’ and flyers’ faith by making safer planes.