Over recent years, Air India redesigned its branding and ordered hundreds of new planes from both Boeing and Airbus. Analysts don’t expect Thursday’s crash, which involved a 12-year-old Boeing 787 Dreamliner, to change such partnerships.
“Admittedly, Air India and the Tata organization have been very proud about the fact that they’ve made a major commitment to Boeing,” said Anita Mendiratta, an aviation and leadership consultant.
While acknowledging that Boeing has been bruised in recent years, largely due to problems with its 737 Max, Mendiratta noted that there’s still been a “hunger” from airlines around the world to add the company’s new planes to their fleets after recent delivery delays. That includes demand for the 787 Dreamliner — which, she said, is “one of the most important aircraft when it comes to sustainable aviation, emissions reduction, managing the costs of aviation.”
Boeing has been plagued by its own safety issues, including past deadly crashes. This, however, was the first crash of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, according to the Aviation Safety Network database. And the cause of Thursday’s crash is still unclear.
An international investigation is underway, and Boeing has said it’s “working to gather more information.” Air India said it’s also working to get answers around what caused the crash — while promising to support those impacted by the tragedy.
“This is a difficult day for all of us at Air India,” CEO Campbell Wilson said in recorded remarks. “Our efforts now are focused entirely on the needs of our passengers, crew members, their families and loved ones.”
Natarajan Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Sons, added in a statement that “no words can adequately express the grief we feel at this moment.” He said that the company would provide 10 million rupees (nearly $116,795) to the families of each person “who has lost their life in this tragedy” — and also cover medical expenses of anyone who was injured.