THE YEAR OF VISIBLE CHANGE FOR AIR INDIA

Something unusual is happening at Air India, the kind of shift that aviation insiders feel before the public even sees it.

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For decades, the airline has lived in a curious space between nostalgia and neglect, promising resurgence but never quite delivering it. Now, behind closed doors and inside buzzing operations centres, a different narrative is taking shape. The carrier is attempting a transformation so sweeping that industry veterans quietly describe it as one of the biggest aviation overhauls India has ever seen. And as surprising as it sounds, industry watchers claim this time the change actually feels real.

Air India's long-promised transformation is about to move from PowerPoint to the passenger cabAin. In the bustling corporate hub of Gurugram, against a backdrop of towering ambition and relentless scrutiny, In a November media interaction, Air India's Chief Executive Officer, Campbell Wilson, recently laid out a blueprint for recovery, and framed 2026 as "the year of visible change" for the airline, the point at which years of work on systems, training and fleet deals finally show up in the seats, screens and service that travellers actually experience, comprising new jets, retrofits, compensation for victims, enhanced passenger experience, and an expanded human-resources push across the group.

The journey to this point has been arduous. Since its acquisition by the Tata Group in early 2022, Air India has been engaged in what Wilson has often described as a multiyear "transformation" on a scale rarely seen in global aviation.

Until now, he suggested, much of the effort has been hidden in back-end overhauls; the next 18-24 months are when customers will be able to see and feel what has changed.