*

Dreamliner crash on take-off was worst aviation disaster

in 10

years

*

Tata Group has ambitious overhaul plans after 2022

takeover from

government

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Newer aircraft and better maintenance needed, expert says

*

Air India says investigations into incident will take time

(Updates first paragraph with latest death toll; adds reference

to investigation in paragraph 4)

By Aditi Shah and Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI, June 12 (Reuters) - The Air India plane crash

on Thursday which left more than 240 people dead, the worst

aviation disaster in a decade, will challenge the airline's

ambitious campaign to restore its reputation and revamp its

fleet.

After taking the carrier over from the government in

2022, the Tata Group unveiled plans to reverse years of

underinvestment in an ageing and outdated fleet and create a

"world class airline", as CEO Campbell Wilson has repeatedly put

it, on a par with rivals like Emirates.

The turnaround has been aimed at tackling its myriad

problems under government ownership including persistent flight

delays, disgruntled customers, a shortage of spare parts, poorly

maintained planes and years of financial losses.

The cause of the crash, the first for a Boeing

Dreamliner wide-body airliner, has not yet been determined and

India's aviation minister said a formal investigation had begun.

Air India has not commented on what caused the crash.

"Newer aircraft and better maintenance should be the

hallmark for Air India to survive. Proper maintenance is what

they should be looking into, because Air India has had a

chequered past," said Vibhuti Deora, a former legal expert at

India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau.

That past includes, while under government ownership, a

Boeing 737 flight from Dubai in 2010 that overshot the runway at

a domestic airport and crashed into a gorge, killing 158 people.

In 2020, an aircraft of its low-cost unit Air India Express

skidded off a runway in India, killing 21 people.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told an international

gathering of hundreds of airline executives in New Delhi on June

2 that the country's booming aviation industry stood at a

crucial point.

On Thursday, Air India's website swapped its bright red

colour scheme and logo for a more sombre black and grey one,

covering it with a banner that carried the crashed flight's

number: "AI-171".

"For an airline, the most important thing is the brand's

identity with safety. This will be a major setback for the brand

in that aspect," said Dilip Cherian, a communications consultant

and co-founder of public relations firm Perfect Relations.

'DIFFICULT DAY'

With its maharajah mascot, Air India was once known for

lavishly decorated planes and meticulous service championed by

its founder, JRD Tata, India's first commercial pilot.

But after the mid-2000s the carrier's reputation worsened as

its financial troubles mounted. It has flown wide-body planes

with business class seats in poor condition and grounded some of

its new Boeing 787 Dreamliners for a lack of spare parts.

When Tata regained control, the airline was "just in

absolute shambles", its CEO Wilson told Reuters in a 2024

interview, noting that some of its planes hadn't had a product

refresh since they were delivered in 2010-2011.

Air India has a 30% share of the domestic passenger market

and a fleet of 198 planes, of which 27 are 10 to 15 years old

and 43 are more than 15 years old, the civil aviation ministry

told parliament in March. Air India Express had 101 planes, with

37% more than 15 years old.

The plane that crashed on Thursday was 11 years old,

according to Flightradar24.

Rival Indian airlines such as IndiGo operate newer

planes.

Air India, which is part-owned by Singapore Airlines

, has placed orders for 570 new jets in recent years

and is in talks for dozens more.

While it has aggressively expanded its international

flight network, it has also faced persistent complaints from

passengers, who often take to social media to show soiled seats,

broken armrests, non-operational entertainment systems and dirty

cabin areas.

It has been ranked the worst airline for flight delays in

Britain, where its departures were on average just under 46

minutes behind schedule in 2024, according to analysis of Civil

Aviation Authority data by the PA news agency published in May.

It has also been reporting losses since at least fiscal year

2019-20. In 2023-24, it reported a net loss of $520 million on

sales of $4.6 billion.

For now, Air India faces the task of investigating one of

India's worst aviation disasters.

"This is a difficult day for all of us at Air India," CEO

Wilson said in a video message on Thursday.

"Investigations will take time."