AIR India, which is set to buy 470 planes for about USD 70 billion, has ‘enormous’ potential and efforts are on to make the group a significant international player in the aviation space, according to the airline’s chief Campbell Wilson. Against the backdrop of incidents of unruly passenger behaviour onboard flights and the airline’s decision to amend its alcohol serving policy, Wilson said, strong action is being taken against such instances of intoxication which is also a multi-faceted issue. “We straightened (alcohol policy) a bit to recognise the signs of intoxication... What has changed in a large respect is the practice of reporting and acting on intoxication... Almost everyday there is an incident and usually it is a case of someone drinking their own liquor before getting onboard the aircraft or smuggling their own duty free liquor onto the aircraft and consuming it.

“This is being reported more often and we are taking strong action when it happens,” the Air India CEO and MD said during a virtual media interaction on Monday. He pointed out that the issue of intoxication is something that has been noted internationally and has been on the rise since COVID. It is something that IATA has called out, he added.

IATA (International Air Transport Association) is a global grouping of airlines and Air India is also a member.

Last month, in a span of less than a week, aviation regulator DGCA had penalised Tata Group-owned Air India twice related to incidents of unruly passenger behaviour.

On February 14, Air India announced placing an order for 470 planes, including 70 wide-body aircraft. About funding for this purchase Wilson said, it would be a combination of many things, including cash flow and financing by shareholder equity. “We will be exploring other opportunities such as sale and lease back of aircraft. It suffices to say that there are a number of funding sources and likely to be a combination of various sources,” he added.