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If you're pleasantly surprised by the ample leg space, larger hand rest and other facilities while travelling business class and first class on Air-India's new Boeing 777 and Boeing 787 flights next year, thank Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata, Housing Development Finance Corporation honcho Deepak Parekh, industrialist Yash Birla and Tina Ambani.
No, none of them has joined any advisory team of the national carrier. What they did was to find time for an on-site inspection and suggest what Air-India should offer to its first class and business class passengers on its long distance flights.
A few months back, the airline invited top industrialists and frequent travellers and sought their suggestions for improving amenities on long-haul flights.
"I was pleasantly surprised by the response I received from them. They, particularly Tata, spent a couple of hours and examined all the seats that we showed them. While making the final choice, we went by their suggestions," says Air-India chairman and managing director Vasudevan Thulasidas.
According to him, the basic idea of the exercise was to ensure that travellers get the same comfort on AI flights, which they enjoy on international carriers.
"Who else can tell you better than Tata and Parekh?" he wonders. The 777s will replace Air-India's current fleet of 747-200s aeroplanes while the 787-8 Dreamliner will replace its aging A310 fleet. The new planes will join the Air-India fleet early next year.
Thulasidas says the positive economics of the 777-200LR, 777-300ER and 787 Dreamliner will help Air-India save on operational costs. It will also provide flexibility to serve new, ultra long-range non-stop routes such as Delhi-New York and Mumbai-San Francisco.
The Boeing 787 is a super-efficient aeroplane with new passenger-pleasing features.
It will bring in the economics of large jet transport to the middle of the market, using 20 per cent less fuel than any other aeroplane of its size.
