Air India CEO: Rate of flight incidents 'entirely normal'

Air India CEO Campbell Wilson has defended the airline’s safety record, saying the rate of in-flight incidents is “entirely normal” despite a string of technical snags and flight diversions making headlines in recent weeks.

“With more than 1,200 departures every single day across the Air India Group, it can seem like a lot. But in the context of our scale and size, the incidence rate is entirely normal,” Wilson said in a mailer to employees.

The airline has faced several diversions in recent days due to cockpit warnings and technical issues. Wilson said Air India has chosen to be “more transparent than usual” in reporting incidents, which has led to greater news coverage but is part of efforts to build trust.

The CEO also highlighted improvements in performance. Air India’s on-time performance in August crossed 80%  nearly 10 percentage points above the 2024 average for Air India and Vistara. Customer satisfaction, measured by Net Promoter Score, hit a record 36. Mishandled baggage rates and reunion times have also improved.

Boosting customer service

To tackle everyday service lapses such as baggage delays, broken seats, catering issues or malfunctioning in-flight entertainment Air India has empowered frontline teams to issue e-vouchers for service lapses, with plans to extend this to cabin crew for on-the-spot redressal.

“We’ve empowered our front-line teams with the ability to offer e-vouchers to customers in cases where a service shortfall has occurred, such as for mishandled baggage, and are also working to extend this capability to our cabin crew, enabling them to provide on-the-spot resolution to customers during their journey,” Wilson said.

Air India is also bringing back familiar brand elements like its in-flight magazine, specialty menus, and a stronger social media presence.

On the network front, Air India will launch twice-daily non-stop flights between Delhi and Jaisalmer from October to March 2026. Low-cost unit AIX has expanded to Chandigarh and Ahmedabad, and will start Dehradun operations from September 15, taking its footprint to 58 domestic and 17 international destinations.