Air India has improved training, strengthened standards: CEO Campbell Wilson

New Delhi: Air India has improved training, strengthened standards and has been focused on improving reporting about safety and other matters, the airline's CEO Campbell Wilson said on Friday.

Against the backdrop of its plane crash that killed 260 people on June 12, Wilson said it is natural that there is a period of intense scrutiny following an accident and that all commentary must be taken constructively with grace and an open mind.

The Tata Group-owned airline, which has come under intense scrutiny following the accident, has taken certain measures, including temporary curtailment of flights and completion of inspection of its Boeing 787 and 737 fleets.

In recent years, Wilson said the airline has improved training and promulgated Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to give direction and clarity, strengthened standards, instilled processes to drive compliance and consistency, and introduced performance management practices to rise higher.

"We have focused on improving reporting, whether it be of safety or other matters, by making it easier to do, more encouraged, more protected and put to more use, and we have adopted philosophies such as those from Baines-Simmons to take opportunities for organisational learning and improvement before jumping to blame or punishment," he said in a message to Air India staff.

Baines-Simmons is a leading aviation safety training and consulting firm.

There have been some incidents involving Air India planes in recent weeks, and aviation regulator DGCA has also issued show cause notices for certain violations following voluntary disclosures made by the carrier.

"We have invested significantly in the adoption of digital systems to replace paper-based ones, so that we have more complete, accurate, accessible and usable data that does not reside in silos," Wilson said.

According to him, sometimes the extra attention means that normal issues get misinterpreted or sensationalised, but sometimes the scrutiny highlights genuine areas for improvement.

"We must take all commentary constructively with grace and an open mind and, where there is an opportunity to act, must do so," he noted.

Wilson, who is the CEO and MD, highlighted that the airline's Net Promoter Score (NPS) touched an all-time record high in July.

NPS is an indicator of passenger satisfaction across various touch points.

"... so far in July more than 1,00,000 have taken the opportunity to give such feedback, and have collectively delivered us an all-time record high NPS score of +34.

"FY23's NPS was -17, FY24 was -3 and last year was +16 so, to close on the opening theme, this steady upward progression is yet another example of continuous improvement in action," he said.

The airline has completed the inspection of fuel switches on its B737 fleet following the earlier exercise on its B787s.

"In both cases, nothing untoward was found. Reliability enhancement work, using the additional ground time made available by the Pause, continues, while partial restoration of our temporary schedule reduction commences on 1st August ahead of full restoration planned for 1st October," Wilson said.

Air India is observing 'Safety Pause', the deliberate temporary scale-back of its international and domestic networks, after the crash of its London Gatwick-bound Boeing 787-8 aircraft soon after take off from Ahmedabad, killing 260 people on June 12.