Tata-Owned Air India Hints At Nearing Order For Wide-Body Airbus A350 Jets

Air India likely to introduce the A350 jets by the first quarter of 2023, according to a letter sent to senior cockpit crew

Tata-owned Air India is polling pilots on whether they want to be trained to fly Airbus SE A350 jets, Bloomberg reported. The airline has signalled that it intends to operate Airbus SE A350 jets as it looks to rehaul its wide-body fleet.

According to the report, the airline may introduce the A350 by the first quarter of 2023, according to a letter sent to senior cockpit crew and seen by Bloomberg News. The letter stated that pilots must respond to the offer by June 20, and those who accept will be ineligible for training on another aircraft type for two years.

Quoting sources, Bloomberg said that Air India is looking to order around 20 A350s.

One option would be to take on jets initially destined for Russian carrier Aeroflot that Airbus can no longer deliver due to sanctions. The second option is aircraft for Qatar Airways that the airline isn’t taking due to a dispute with the manufacturer over paint quality.

Earlier, Bloomberg News had reported that talks were going on for narrow-body aircraft as well, including Airbus and Boeing’s workhorse models. The deal may involve as many as 50 A350 jets and 100 A321neo aircraft, the report said.

A spokesman from Airbus said the firm is always talking to existing and potential customers. However, he declined to comment further. Representative for Tata didn’t immediately respond to Bloomberg’s request for comment.

Sources have told the news agency that Air India could operate the A350 on flights to the US, which it currently serves with Boeing 777s and 787-8s. The A350 order would be worth more than $6 billion based on list prices, before traditional industry discounts.

Boeing jets could also factor into an order. In February, Bloomberg reported that Air India was in talks with Airbus and Boeing about a raft of new planes, including A350-900s and 787-9s after Tata acquired the former state-owned company and embarked on a fleet-modernisation plan.

Tata, which now owns four airline brands, including the local affiliates of Singapore Airlines and AirAsia Group Bhd., is widely expected to consolidate the businesses. It already got CCI approvals for Air India to take over AirAsia India.

Currently, Air India has 153 planes. They include 49 wide-bodies manufactured by Boeing and 79 Airbus narrow-bodies, along with 25 Boeing 737s at low-cost subsidiary Air India Express.