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Aircraft supply to airlines will remain constrained during the next four to five years due to the supply chain issues being faced by plane makers Airbus and Boeing and there is not much that carriers can do beyond optimising their flight network expansion, Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson said on Tuesday.
Air India currently has about 210 planes in its fleet.
Its low-cost airline subsidiary Air India Express has about 90 planes.
While speaking at Skift India Forum 2025, Wilson detailed the type of supply chain issues that have been delaying the aircraft deliveries to airlines.
“We have placed an order for 570 planes (in the last two years). It would be fair to say that there are pinch points everywhere.
"In narrow body aircraft, the pinch point is engines... There is a pinch point with respect to supply of seats in first and business class seats for wide body planes and that has impacted our retrofit programme too,” he said.
“Both Boeing and Airbus have certain challenges in the production line of their aircraft because they can’t get components or parts of the fuselage from their suppliers.
"So, the reality is that this is going to remain a supply-constrained market, not just for India or Air India.
"I am talking about global aviation. It is going to remain a supply constrained market for another four to five years,” he mentioned.
Wilson said Air India is a “victim” of the circumstances as is every other airline in the world.
“If you are capacity constrained, you have to be a little bit ruthless with respect to where you deploy your aircraft to maximise the returns.
"It means you can’t expand to places that otherwise you would like to expand.
"There is not a lot that you can do beyond that,” he stated.
The CEO also explained that leasing planes is not an easy solution either.
“We can try to lease aircraft from the external market but every other airline is trying to do it.
"Getting one or two aircraft which have a different configuration from the rest of the fleet adds to the complexity rather than advancing you.
"It is a very significant challenge for the industry as a whole,” he mentioned.
Wilson stated that repainting and refurbishing Vistara aircraft is expected to take around 1.5 years.
Vistara, a full-service carrier, was merged with Air India last year.
Wilson emphasised that aircraft retrofitting remains the airline’s top priority.
The refurbishment of its legacy Boeing 777 planes, originally planned for last year, was delayed due to seat supply issues. To address this, the airline has now initiated a major cabin refresh program.
He added that all legacy wide-body aircraft will be upgraded by early to mid-2027, though the process is moving “slower” than desired due to supply chain constraints and limited aircraft availability for refurbishment at any given time.
Air India’s aircraft retrofit programme has been delayed.
It began upgrading its narrow-body planes in September last year, with completion expected by mid-2024.
The airline will then start retrofitting its wide-body planes, a process set to be completed by 2027.
