Air India's 2026 Transformation: CEO Reveals Major Fleet and Service Upgrades

In 2026, Air India will receive six widebody aircraft, a mix of Boeing B787-9 and Airbus A350-1000 aircraft.

In addition, several of its retrofitted B787-8 aircraft will join the fleet in 2026.

Air India will receive the first of the line-fit B787-9 aircraft at the end of 2025.

Campbell, talking to reporters at the Air India Training Academy in Gurugram, said that 2026 would be "the year customers notice the most significant change", primarily driven by the ongoing wide-body upgradation programme.

The first two legacy Boeing 787-8 aircraft are currently undergoing a full interior overhaul, including new in-flight entertainment systems and Wi-Fi connectivity, in Victorville, California.

These aircraft are expected to re-enter service by February 2026, followed by two to three wide-body aircraft refreshed each month.

By the end of 2026, about two-thirds of the B787 fleet will feature the new interiors, with the retrofit of the full fleet set for completion by mid-2027. Most of these aircraft operate to Europe, Australasia, and Southeast Asia.

Air India has recently completed the retrofit of 27 of its legacy widebody aircraft.

"81% of our narrow-body aircraft have already been upgraded. The remaining 17 aircraft, originally marked for retirement, were retained due to delays in deliveries from Airbus and Boeing. These will be retrofitted in 2026," he said.

Of the airline's firm order of 570 aircraft, 524 are yet to be delivered and will begin arriving in large numbers in 2027 and 2028.

Wilson said the company's investments in systems, training and human resources are aimed at supporting this rapid expansion.

He added that Air India Express is also progressing with the refit of its 50 "white-tail" aircraft that were originally built for another airline but remained undelivered due to the pandemic.

In addition to the transformation of its fleet, Air India is also going strong on the upgradation of service elements. This includes a new food and beverage menu that is currently being rolled out across the network. While the rollout has started with the international leg, menu on the domestic network will be upgraded by January.

Additionally, Campbell spoke about Air India's lounge network also being refreshed.

A new Maharaja Lounge will be unveiled in December at Delhi International Airport's Terminal 3.

2026 will see a new domestic lounge coming up at Delhi's T3, a new lounge at San Francisco and the lounge at New York JFK being upgraded.

"All our efforts are being recognised by customers, and that is showing in our Net Promoter Score, which reached an all-time high of 37 in September 2025," said Campbell. Air India's Net Promoter Score is based on a survey of close to 200,000 passengers on their flying experience.

- ANI