Air India Receives Its First ‘Line-Fit’ Dreamliner Since Joining Tata Group, Maharaja Days May Return

New Delhi: Air India, now under the ownership of the Tata Group, has received its first ‘line-fit’ Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner since the airline was privatized. This marks the first addition of a Dreamliner to Air India’s fleet in over eight years. The last line-fit Dreamliner was received in October 2017, when the airline was still government-owned.

In the aviation industry, ‘line-fit’ refers to equipment, systems, or features installed during the aircraft’s manufacturing process rather than retrofitted later. According to officials, Air India took possession of the aircraft on 7 January at Boeing’s Everett factory in Seattle, USA. Following inspection by the DGCA, the aircraft is expected to arrive in India in the coming days.

Wide-Body Aircraft Boost
This latest aircraft is Air India’s first wide-body Dreamliner delivered under Tata ownership and is the 52nd plane of the 220 Boeing aircraft ordered in 2023. Air India Express has already received 51 narrow-body Boeing 737-8 aircraft, including its first line-fit plane added at the end of December.

Since the Tata Group acquired Air India in January 2022, the airline has placed orders for 350 Airbus and 220 Boeing aircraft. Of the Airbus orders, six A350 aircraft have already joined the fleet. Air India also inherited 26 B787-8 and six B787-9 aircraft from Vistara, which has now merged into Air India.

Currently, the Air India Group operates over 300 aircraft, with 185 under Air India and the remainder under Air India Express. Officials also indicated that around a dozen older Dreamliners could return to service in a new configuration by 2026.

This milestone is seen as a key step in reviving Air India’s fleet and luxury service, bringing the airline closer to the grandeur of its ‘Maharaja’ days.