Task of turning around airline the most exciting journey globally: Tata Sons chief
Jagriti Chandra
“We are fortunate to have several iconic brands such as Taj Hotels, Tanishq, Tata Salt, Jaguar Land Rover,” he said in an address to Air India employees.
“With many of our consumer-facing products we are fortunate to touch the lives of 60 crore Indians. But with Air India joining, we now have the opportunity to become the brand that represents the aspirations of 130 crore Indians,” he added. He harked back to Air India’s past when it was referred to as “palace in the sky” and said his company had ‘very big’ dreams for the airline and was committed to making it a world-class airline working “hand-in-hand” with all employees. He called the task of turning around the airline the most exciting journey globally, one in which every citizen wanted the company to succeed.
‘Most advanced tech’
“We will make it a world-class airline by focussing on specific areas where we want to be best-in-class customer service. We want Air India to be the most tech-advanced airline in the world. We will upgrade all our aircraft and bring in new fleet which are state-of-the-art, and expand our outreach both domestically and internationally. And, we will ensure that our hospitality in-flight and off-flight is absolutely the best.”
He said efforts would be made to ensure on-time performance so that Air India was “on-time, every time”, which will be complemented with terrific passenger experience — across booking, boarding and lounge experience. He added that there would also be emphasis on handling passenger complaints in the most appropriate and swift manner — an area in which AI often receives flak.
The Tata group chairman said cloud technology, artificial intelligence to mine data and machine-learning algorithms will be used to get intelligence so as to ensure passengers get the most personalised experience.
Mr. Chandrasekaran acknowledged the airline’s fleet needed ‘a lot of work’ which would be addressed with the ‘utmost urgency’ by upgrading the existing fleet and bringing in new planes.
