Air India is progressing its plans to bring maintenance capabilities in-house. In addition to its upcoming 12-hangar MRO facility in Bangalore, the airline plans to bring all of its line maintenance operations across its 55 domestic stations in house toward the end of first quarter or the start of the second quarter.
Inside sources tell Aviation Week Network that Air India has already started mass recruitment for its line maintenance stations and it is roping in some of the engineers and workforce from its previous sister company, AI Engineering Services (AIESL).
Prashaant Gosavi, general manager and chief maintenance manager of AIESL’s Trivandrum facility, recently joined Air India as its head of engineering and planning control.
Air India’s in-house maintenance team currently carries out line maintenance work at 42 domestic stations. In an internal message to Air India staff, CEO and Managing Director Campbell Wilson highlighted the airline’s overall progress in terms of line maintenance activities, noting that Air India was “making good progress on taking control of our line maintenance. He added: “This gives much greater control on quality and timeliness, and enables us to conduct a wider range of maintenance tasks in-house, including ‘lighter’ checks during extended transits and overnight stops.”
Wilson clarified that the in-housing of the remaining 13 stations is on track to be completed by April.
Air India is planning to develop a complete MRO ecosystem as it prepares for its expanding fleet. In addition to opening a spares warehouse in New Delhi and planning an MRO facility in Bengaluru, Air India will train aspiring technicians and engineers at a new maintenance training organization that it plans to open in Bengaluru by mid-2026, a few months after the MRO facility there is expected to begin commercial operations.
Air India is currently in phase two of its transformation plan, Vihaan.AI, and its MRO capabilities expansion is a part of this strategy.
Air India formally completed its merger with Vistara in November, and subsidiary AIX Connect (formerly AirAsia India) has been integrated with Air India Express.
In his internal message to Air India staff, Wilson said Jan. 9 would have been Vistara's tenth anniversary. "I am sure that 10 years ago, no one foresaw that Vistara would not just attain the heights it reached but that it would also become an integral part of a privatized, revitalized and rising Air India,” he added. “It is remarkable how much has evolved in just 10 years, and I have no doubt that the next 10 years will see even more progress and advancement.”
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