Air India's top executives, including the CEO, senior commanders, and vice presidents, will begin flying in economy class on domestic routes as part of a new staff travel policy set to roll out in phases starting next month, according to sources.
The move comes as the Tata Group-owned airline sees a surge in demand for premium class seats—business and premium economy—over the past 27 months. The new policy aims to ensure these seats remain available to customers first, the sources said.
For senior management (vice president and above), the policy will take effect from April 1, while for senior commanders, it will be implemented from June 1. Employees will have the option to upgrade to business or premium economy if any seats remain unsold or unoccupied 50 minutes before departure, the sources added.
"With this policy, we want to ensure that our premium seats, both business and premium economy, remain available for booking by our customers first, reinforcing Air India's customer-centric approach," an Air India spokesperson said.
Previously, on-duty staff were entitled to business class travel even on domestic flights.
Air India currently offers 50,000 premium economy seats per week across its narrow-body A320 fleet, including 53 A320 aircraft inherited from Vistara, each with 24 premium economy seats. Additionally, 14 Air India A320neo aircraft have already been retrofitted with premium economy seating.
By October, 27 more A320 aircraft will be reconfigured with economy class seating, taking the airline's weekly premium economy capacity to 65,000 seats. Around 50% of these will be available on key metro-to-metro routes, an airline official said.
(With text inputs from PTI)
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