New Delhi, 4 April - Air India has secured a deal to acquire 50 Boeing 737 Max jets that were originally constructed for Chinese airlines. This acquisition, set to conclude by June 2025, marks a strategic move for the Tata Group-owned carrier as it seeks to bolster its fleet amid a global shortage of new aircraft. The planes, redirected from Chinese carriers due to a unique supply chain anomaly, have provided Air India with a rare opportunity to accelerate its expansion plans at a time when demand for air travel in India is surging. With 41 of these aircraft already delivered by early April 2025, the airline is poised to enhance its operational capacity, though it faces challenges in maintaining momentum as the supply of these diverted jets nears its end.
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The story of how these Boeing 737 Max jets ended up with Air India begins with a disruption in the Chinese aviation market. Boeing had initially built these aircraft for several Chinese carriers, including Shanghai Airlines and China Eastern Airlines, but deliveries were deferred due to regulatory concerns over the safety of lithium batteries used in the planes’ cockpit voice recorders. This hesitation left Boeing with a backlog of undelivered “white-tail” aircraft—planes built for specific customers but left unclaimed. Seizing the opportunity, Air India, which had placed a massive order for 190 Boeing 737 Max jets in June 2023 as part of a broader 570-aircraft deal with Boeing and Airbus, negotiated to take 50 of these stranded planes. The arrangement has allowed Air India to receive two aircraft per month on average since September 2023, a pace that has significantly outstripped typical delivery timelines amid ongoing global supply chain constraints.
This influx of aircraft has been a boon for Air India’s low-cost subsidiary, Air India Express, which has taken possession of most of these jets. Of the 41 delivered so far, 38 are already in service, with the remaining three undergoing repainting to align with the airline’s branding. The final four of the 50 jets are slated for delivery in April 2025, with an additional five arriving between May and June, completing the diversion from the Chinese market. However, once this pool dries up, Air India faces a gap in deliveries until its fresh orders begin arriving by March 2026. This pause could hinder the airline’s ability to keep pace with competitors like IndiGo, which has been adding aircraft at a rate of more than one per week in 2025, further solidifying its dominance in India’s domestic aviation market.
The acquisition of these jets underscores Air India’s aggressive fleet modernization strategy under Tata Group ownership. Since its privatization in 2021, the airline has pursued an ambitious transformation, ordering a total of 570 aircraft over the past two years to address the rapidly growing demand for air travel in South Asia. Beyond the Boeing 737 Max jets, Air India has also taken delivery of six Airbus A350-900s originally intended for Aeroflot and leased 11 Boeing 777s from the open market. These moves reflect a pragmatic approach to fleet expansion, leveraging both new orders and opportunistic acquisitions to bridge immediate capacity needs. Yet, the reliance on redirected aircraft highlights the broader challenges facing the aviation industry, where production delays at Boeing and Airbus have left airlines scrambling for alternatives. For Boeing, the redirection of these 50 jets to Air India represents a partial resolution to its inventory challenges. The company has been working to clear its backlog of undelivered 737 Max aircraft, a process complicated by production setbacks and heightened regulatory scrutiny following safety incidents. By mid-2025, Boeing plans to wind down a shadow factory used to upgrade these white-tail planes, signaling the end of this particular chapter. Meanwhile, Air India must navigate the transition to its next phase of growth, balancing the benefits of this windfall with the uncertainty of future deliveries. As the airline integrates these jets into its operations, it aims to strengthen its position in a competitive market, capitalizing on an unexpected twist in the global supply chain to fuel its ascent.