When Air India’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, bound for London from Ahmedabad, crashed shortly after takeoff—leaving behind a trail of grief and urgent questions on Thursday, the Tata Group—owners of Air India—swung into action, initiating what many described as a tightly coordinated response even before the smoke had fully cleared. At the centre of this effort was N Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons and Air India. Within minutes of receiving the news, Chandrasekaran was on his way to Ahmedabad. His presence on the ground, overseeing emergency response efforts personally, set the tone for what was to follow: decisive leadership and visible accountability.
Joining him soon after was Campbell Wilson, CEO of Air India, who was reportedly en route to Paris at the time of the crash. Wilson cut short his travel and flew to Ahmedabad, landing at the scene within hours. The two leaders spent the day speaking to officials, rescue personnel and—most importantly—families of those on board. Of the 242 people on board, including passengers and crew, just one survived the deadly accident.
Even as Air India is undergoing a five-year transformation programme to revamp operations, expand and upgrade its fleet, and improve reliability of operations, its public-sector days—when it was a sick enterprise—still cast a shadow on its grand ambitions, particularly when it comes to issues of service and equipment upkeep. The airline has been at the receiving end of the aviation regulator’s ire on multiple occasions even after its privatisation in January 2022. And Thursday’s plane crash has delivered a blow to the carrier’s efforts to redefine and reinvent its reputation.
Visible shift in crisis response
In a public statement Thursday evening, Chandrasekaran announced a comprehensive support package: Rs one crore in ex-gratia compensation for the families of each person who lost their life in the crash. “We will also bear all medical costs of the injured and support B J Medical College’s hostel construction,” he said. The hostel belonging to B J Medical College was destroyed and some of the medical students died in the crash.
But the response wasn’t limited to statements. Air India arranged two special relief flights, one each from Delhi and Mumbai, to fly families and support staff to Ahmedabad. The airline coordinated closely with airport authorities, hospitals and government officials to provide logistical and emotional support to next of kin.
“We are doing everything in our power to assist the emergency response teams at the site and to provide all necessary support and care to those impacted. An emergency centre has been activated and support team have been set up for families seeking information,” Chandrasekaran added, speaking with quiet resolve.
Wilson said that the airline’s teams are working around the clock to support the passengers, crew, and their families as well as investigators, apart from working closely with authorities at the accident site to assist in emergency response efforts.
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It was a different story after the crash of the Air India Express plane at Kozhikode on August 7, 2020. Air India Express, the low-cost airline arm of Air India, which was then under the government control, initially announced an interim compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased passengers of age 12 years and above, Rs 5 lakh to families of passengers below the age of 12, Rs 2 lakh to passengers who were critically injured, and Rs 50,000 to other passengers injured in the incident. Communication was somewhat patchy all through.
Air India was privatised in January 2022, returning to the Tata fold after decades under government ownership. Thursday’s incident highlighted a marked shift—with communication, coordination, relief efforts, and compensation unfolding swiftly and decisively.
However, the backlash from passengers and aviation professionals alike has been swift. “The Tata Group must act against those responsible for this tragedy,” said another aviation industry insider. “And Boeing must answer for any possible manufacturing faults.”
The Tata group had launched a five-year transformation plan to revamp operations, expand fleet size and improve reliability.
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Focus on safety
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)—India’s aviation safety regulator—had issued several show-cause notices to Air India and private airlines for repeated violations of Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) between 2023 and 2025, aviation sources said. These related to inadequate passenger support during delays, lapses in ground handling, and even some safety-related lapses.
Aircraft maintenance standards of Indian carriers have long faced scrutiny, but the tragic crash of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner—the deadliest aircraft disaster involving an Indian airline plane in decades—is likely to intensify focus on these long-standing concerns.
Despite the Tata group’s ongoing efforts to improve Air India’s engineering and fleet reliability, this incident has raised fresh alarm over the adequacy of safety procedures and technical preparedness. A passenger aboard the doomed Dreamliner who flew from Delhi to Ahmedabad in the same aircraft before the Ahmedabad-London departure reported power outages, non-functional air conditioning, and broken inflight systems. He also shared videos of the faulty systems on social media platform X.
Aviation experts suggest operational pressure to avoid cancellations has often prompted many airlines to cut corners, raising safety red flags. A frequent flyer took to social media platform X, complaining: “Every Air India flight delays the air-conditioning to save fuel… It’s suffocating and unacceptable.”
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“The Dreamliner crash has exposed the underbelly of the airline’s engineering issues,” said an aviation official requesting anonymity. “Investigators must determine why the aircraft failed to generate sufficient thrust and was unable to gain altitude after takeoff.”
While Vistara–the joint venture between Tatas and Singapore Airlines—merged with Air India, experts caution that consolidating systems of the merged entity won’t automatically resolve legacy maintenance gaps.
Air India has also committed to developing a new maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in Bengaluru by 2026, aiming to bring more engineering work in-house and reduce reliance on third-party vendors. However, analysts argue that these long-term steps are too late to address urgent systemic failures.
As public and regulatory scrutiny intensifies, the airline’s ambition to be a “world-class global carrier with an Indian heart” will hinge on how swiftly it can restore trust through transparent safety reforms and improved fleet upkeep.