Air India’s Transformation Faces Major Test After 787 Crash

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Thursday’s crash of an Air India Boeing 787 jet is a human tragedy. It is also a major reputational test for an airline undergoing the most aggressive reinvention in its history.

Flight AI171’s planned route from Ahmedabad to London epitomized a bold new chapter for the Indian flag carrier – linking the country’s fifth largest city nonstop with the UK capital without the need to change aircraft in Delhi, Mumbai, or the Middle East.

The timing could not be worse. Air India is three years into a five-year transformation journey, dubbed Vihaan.AI. Launched in 2022, its goal is to overhaul the fleet, enhance service, and reinvent the airline as a premium international carrier that reflects a new India. In this context, a major crash on an international flight operated by a modern Boeing aircraft is particularly devastating.

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The investigation into the accident is still in its infancy. Much will remain unknown until the flight data recorder, also known as the black box, and the cockpit voice recorder are found and processed.

That doesn’t diminish the public appetite for answers. Speculation about the cause isn't helpful – but it’s a reality Air India must grapple with.

In a video statement shared on its X page on Thursday, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson acknowledged the intense speculation.

“The investigations will take time, but anything we can do now, we are doing,” Campbell said. “We understand that people are eager for information and please know that we will continue to share accurate and timely information as soon as we can. But anything we report must be accurate and not speculative. We owe that to everyone involved.”

At the time of publication, no details were available about casualties.

One of the key promises of Vihaan.AI was the return of trust. Under decades of government ownership, the Air India brand became a byword for delays, corporate inefficiency, and inferior products.

Tata’s acquisition and the launch of the new roadmap was a reset button. Globally, the airline had started to regain credibility, with trust in its many forms at the center of the turnaround.

Speaking at the Skift India Forum in Delhi in March, Wilson outlined the company’s progress: “The first year was really about triage and stabilizing an airline that was on the verge of collapse. The second year was about capability building, so we could reach the aspirations of growth and quality that we’re still working towards. The third year was about growth. Moving forward, it’s about consistency, efficiency and profitability, and upgradation of the product.”

Thursday’s events rip up this corporate trajectory.

A carefully choreographed series of brand-building initiatives will be put on hold. Air India will likely enter a period of self-reflection and humility, in sharp contrast to the bullish tone and its growing confidence as the Vihaan turnaround started to bear fruit.

Air India’s crisis response is also under scrutiny. Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran’s swift public statement and the establishment of emergency family support centers show the airline is working hard. But the next 48-72 hours will be critical.

Carriers including Malaysia Airlines and Ethiopian Airlines saw their international reputations come under intense pressure after their own tragedies. Air India’s communications, transparency in the investigation, and compassion in response will now define not just the short-term news cycle but potentially the long-term impact on its transformation effort.

Instead of a chaotic in-person press conference, a somber but clear two-minute statement by Wilson was published on Air India’s social media accounts. This allows the company to better define the optics, relay important information to loved ones, as well as present its next steps.

Within minutes of being uploaded to X, Wilson’s video was broadcast on television news networks, delivering much of the same scope and scale, but with much tighter control. Expect further official announcements to follow this template in the coming hours.

Vihaan.AI’s goals are lofty: make Air India a "world-class global airline" within five years. The crash risks reshaping this vision.

Amid the human tragedy, there is a real danger that the crash interrupts the psychological momentum of a brand in renewal. Instead of associating Air India with comeback and capability, the public could once again associate it with crisis and chaos. That’s a risk the brand cannot afford.

The next phases of Air India’s transformation will now need to account for the reputational and operational fallout from Thursday's crash. This is a defining moment not just for the airline, but for India’s aviation story at large.