New Delhi, Jan 25 : Air India CEO, Campbell Wilson, on Thursday penned a letter to the airline's employees, marking the second anniversary of its return to the Tata Group.

“In the context of our starting point, the size and scope of the transformation we’re undertaking, our unprecedented multi-carrier integration, our huge growth and product-improvement aspirations and our capability-building requirements, two years is an incredible short time. Indeed, we are not even 18 months into our 5-year Vihaan.AI transformation program,” he further wrote.

Addressing the current challenges, particularly in Northern India, Wilson acknowledged the severe fog season and the impact of the temporary closure of one of Delhi's low-visibility runways for repairs.

He informed the team about ongoing assessments by the Operations team to enhance coping mechanisms for future fog seasons, considering the possibility of increased airport congestion.

“As fog will recur in future seasons and airport/airway congestion will only increase, our Operations team is assessing how to better cope, such as by building a larger pool of CAT3 crew, better roster planning and schedule buffers and, where necessary, more pre-emptive flight cancellations. In the meantime, I’d like to acknowledge everyone’s efforts in helping our customers under often difficult circumstances,” Wilson said.

Wilson took a moment to commend the efforts of the crew of AI105, led by Captain Rishabh Malhotra, who handled a medical-induced diversion to Keflavik, Iceland, en route to Newark.

“Diversions to unfamiliar airports, especially on ULR flights, pose many issues, and though numerous parties are involved in managing them, those on the front line face the most challenging tasks,” he said.