Air India’s Late Awakening

THE TAKE 

Air India Needs To Lose Its Legacy Problems To Make A Real Comeback

News that India’s flag carrier Air India, had to announce that its top management would travel in economy from April 1, more than three years after acquiring the airline, comes as a shock.

Because it took them three years to implement something that should have been pretty much the first order of business when they took over from the government in January 2022.

The wording of a public statement is actually quite revealing in its candour and perhaps lack of tact. 

The airline said all staff, including top management, would travel in economy to free up seats for paying customers.

"With this, we want to ensure that our premium seats... for which we are seeing huge demand — are available for booking to our customers first, demonstrating a culture of customer-centricity in the new Air India," a spokesperson said. 

The use of the phrase “culture of customer centricity in the new Air India” is intriguing.

Does this mean there was no customer centricity in the previous three years? 

And what is new now, after three years in the new Air India?

Anyway, note this is only for domestic flights, which in any case do not last more than two to three hours or so, save a few routes.

Staff would, of course, continue to be upgraded to premium economy and business class seats, but only if these remained unsold 50 minutes prior to departure.

When it comes to international, non-fare-paying Air India employees will have as much right as you do. Which, of course, goes back to where the problem started. 

To conclude, it's not like staff cannot travel in the front of the cabin at all; it's just that, in a sudden brainwave, the airline remembered they should be thinking of passengers first — passengers who have paid hard cash for their journey. 

And with a start date of April 1, hopefully, they will not be playing April Fool.

Customers Vs Employees

Air India employees and government functionaries treated the airline like their private chariot — something you could sense with the extra care that some passengers would get on long haul Air India flights. Not because they paid more, but because they worked there or knew someone or were someone.

If you paid more, it's quite likely you would get a broken seat with an in-flight entertainment system that struggled to function. If it did, you would be treated to maybe one movie in its library over a 14-hour flight. Airline employees are obviously entitled to comforts, including on long haul flights, but all airlines have standard operating procedures for this, including awarding seats based on load when not travelling on duty.

In 2020-21, the year before the airline was sold, it had accumulated losses of Rs 78,000 crore and debt of Rs 70,000 crore. 

These staggering numbers alone are a reflection of what goes wrong when you put employees before customers. 

Air India is right to project the fact that its brass is slumming it out with the rest of us paying customers, even though in doing so, it risks getting some egg on their face.

Whether that alone will save it from the flak it is getting for poor service is highly doubtful, but it is definitely a good step, or more appropriately, a wrong that has been made right.

The larger question in many ways is — who comes first in a business, customers or employees? 

Approaches differ.

Richard Branson, owner of Virgin Airlines, in an interview to Inc Magazine a few years ago said his philosophy had always been, “If you can put staff first, your customer second and shareholders third, effectively, in the end, the shareholders do well, the customers do better, and you yourself are happy.” 

The article also refers to the famous Southwest Airlines among other businesses that put employees first.

But a majority of companies put customers first, with the logic that a happy customer will send up happiness to employees and shareholders in the form of more business and patronage.

It is also about timing. Sometimes you follow a certain philosophy, but when things don’t work, you have to change tack.

Air India should have changed tack several decades ago. 

That it took them three more years after a change of management to do so in a key customer-facing, perception-driven area shows that turning around a legacy enterprise is tougher than it sounds. 

And that it will take some sacrifices by management, including giving up that first class seat, before enjoying the fruits of success.

150 million

This is how many ACs India could need in the next decade thanks to climate change and global warming, found a new study published by the India Energy and Climate Center at the UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy. This would mean a higher demand for energy in the country that is already seeing severe results of climate change, with summers getting unbearably hot. The researchers found that demand for energy could surpass 180 gigawatts (GW) by 2035. The study suggested doubling down on the energy efficiency of room ACs.This could not only reduce the energy burden but also save consumers around up to Rs 2.2 lakh crore.

—🇨🇳🇮🇳 India-China Mend Bond? On Tuesday, Indian and Chinese representatives met in Beijing to discuss resuming cross-border exchanges, including the Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra, per an article by The Hindu. The two countries have been at odds since border skirmishes in the Galwan Valley in 2020-21, but began repairing their relationship last year. Reports also say that New Delhi is considering relaxing trade and investment restrictions on China, including allowing banned Chinese apps.  

—✈️ Airbus Bets More On India. Airbus, the world’s largest plane manufacturer, will increase its component sourcing from India from $1.4 billion to $2 billion, executive Guaillame Faury said at the Airbus Sustainability Summit in Toulouse, France, according to an Economic Times article. India is one of Airbus’ largest markets, and though the Indian government has been pressuring the French company to set up a plant in the country, Airbus said its setup is already “very complex.”

—😏 Progress, But Barely! India’s tech contractual workforce has seen a rise in female participation, growing from 9.51% in 2020 to 27.98% in 2024, Business Standard reported. However, leadership representation remains low, and gender pay gaps persist, especially in senior roles. According to TeamLease Digital’s report titled Gender Parity - Shaping Workforce Equity, increased remote work, DEI initiatives, and digital expansion have boosted women’s entry. While IT services and GCCs show progress, non-tech sectors lag. Experts stress the need for structural reforms, mentorship, and pay equity to ensure long-term gender parity.

—🚘 Maruti Expands! India's carmaker Maruti Suzuki will invest Rs 74.1 billion ($864 million) to build a third plant at its Haryana facility, boosting capacity to 750,000 vehicles annually by 2029. The carmaker already has two plants in Kharkhoda—one operational and one under construction—each producing 250,000 vehicles per year. The expansion aims to meet rising demand, including exports, where Maruti leads with a 40% share. The company also operates three other manufacturing units—two in Haryana and one in Gujarat.

👥 THE TEAM

✍️ Zinal Dedhia, Salman SH, Kudrat Wadhwa | ✂️ Rohini Chatterji | 🎧 Joshua Thomas