Air India (AI, Delhi International) is seeking the counsel of an international advisory firm in the design and implementation of a short and long-term business plan.

In a Request For Proposals (RFP) issued late last month, the state-owned carrier said the successful firm would be required to:

  • review existing internal processes and prepare business strategies for the short & long term. This will include benchmarking as per industry standards and the carrying out of gap analyses;
  • give recommendations on proposed operational and structural changes by means of a detailed implementation blue print. This would have to be done, keeping in mind current and future market scenarios;
  • handhold Air India in the implementation of these plans.
  • develop a Management Dashboard for Senior Management to allow for the improvement of processes within the scope of the Air India Business Strategy.

The deadline for the submission of a Technical and Financial Proposal is November 30.

In a bid to ease the continuous burden on the state, Narendra Modi's government has set itself the target of turning the loss-making national carrier into a self sustaining entity by 2020. Following years of losses, it was able to post a first annual operating profit of INR1.05 billion (USD15.7 million) during its 2015/16 financial year.

Given the progress seen thus far, Delhi is considering injecting additional capital into the airline once its current allocation of INR310 billion (USD4.65 billion) runs out. It is also looking at a debt-to-equity transaction to help ease pressure on its creditor's portfolio which, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Mahesh Sharma, said in March stood at INR513.6 billion (USD7.65 billion).

At present, Air India's mainline carrier operates a total of 106 aircraft including twenty-two A319-100s, twenty-two A320-200s, twenty A321-200s, five B747-400s, three B777-200(LR)s, twelve B777-300(ER)s, and twenty-two B787-8s. It currently plans to operate 232 aircraft by March 2020. Its Air India Express (IX, Delhi International) LCC unit operates twenty-three B737-800s while Alliance Air (India) (9I, Delhi International) operates two ATR42-300s, eight ATR72-600s, and three CRJ700s.

Government has proposed repositioning Air India as India's premium domestic operator connecting not only its main Tier I and II cities but even smaller Tier III towns and villages as outlined under the proposed Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) program.