Tata Group’s plan to fold AIX Connect, the carrier that began life as AirAsia India, into a single low cost unit alongside Air India Express has been moving through operational milestones for more than a year. The public pieces you should know are already in place. The two low cost carriers moved to a single reservations and customer interface in March 2023, a practical step that let passengers book and check in for flights on a unified website. That worked as a de facto front end integration while the heavy operational work continued behind the scenes.

From an operational perspective the headline is simple. Management intends to create one larger LCC under the Air India Group umbrella. The regulatory green light to market and operate AIX Connect flights under the Air India Express brand arrived in mid 2023, which enabled integrated sales, distribution and common branding even as the legal and AOC level consolidation continued to be planned.

If you fly or work ops for either carrier your day job will change slowly but in definite ways. Converting two airlines into one is not just repainting tails. It is harmonising operations manuals, checklists, dispatch and rostering systems, maintenance control procedures, and crew training standards. Air India leadership has publicly described a focused team working on harmonisation across the group. That is the right approach because the technical and safety paperwork is where these mergers live or fail.

Practical implications and red flags for flight crews and dispatchers

  • Aircraft fleet mix and type ratings. Historically the former AirAsia India fleet has been Airbus A320 family aircraft while Air India Express has used Boeing 737 types. That creates immediate training, rostering and maintenance complexity when both fleets operate under one low cost brand. Crews must be vigilant about type of aircraft scheduled for a flight and ensure their type ratings and recency are valid for that registration. Verify the aircraft registration on your trip sheet every time. If your airline is shuffling registrations across AOCs you will see registrations change even though the flight number looks familiar.

  • SOP harmonisation and differences in performance data. Even with identical tasks pilots still rely on airline SOPs for callouts, briefing formats, fuel policy, and stabilized approach criteria. One of the high risk windows during a merger is the period when mixed SOPs coexist. Expect recurrent and differences training modules, but do not assume prior company habits carry over. Always brief according to the currently applicable company manual and the aircraft flight manual for that registration.

  • Crew rostering and duty time changes. Moving to a single rostering system will help efficiency but also concentrates workforce scheduling risk. Watch for changes in block time assumptions on new pairings, alterations to minimum rest rules, and the introduction of a single rostering vendor. Keep all documentation of your duty times and any variations in writing. Where union representation exists, get clarifications through the union channel as well as through crew scheduling.

  • Maintenance and MEL equivalence. Transfers of aircraft between AOCs require careful review of maintenance records, lease terms and approved MEL items. If an aircraft moves from one AOC to another the approved configuration and dispatch tolerances must be explicitly cleared by engineering and the regulator. Dispatchers and PICs should require clarity on MEL acceptance and on who is responsible for deferred defect adjudication during the transition.

  • Communications and single dispatch environment. A benefit already delivered is a unified booking and customer interface. Operational communications will follow. Expect new call signs, new daily ops brief formats, and perhaps a consolidated ops control centre. Confirm the correct operational contacts early and run simulated failure drills to ensure the new contact chains work when the schedule is disrupted.

Safety and regulatory watchers will be watching the AOC and documentation work closely. The regulator in India has played an active role in clearing marketing and branding alignment and will be the authority when it comes to legal AOC transfers and the final steps of any merger. That process takes time because regulators must be satisfied that safety, security and contractual obligations to lessors and international partners are intact.

What operations teams should do now

  • Audit and annotate. Create a living checklist for each operational domain: flight operations manuals, checklists, dispatch procedures, engineering records, MELs, training syllabi, and crew contracts. Track which documents have been harmonised and which remain with legacy caveats.

  • Cross train and document. If your airline will operate mixed types under a single brand, schedule cross familiarisation ground classes and line checks early. Ensure training records are rapidly accessible by rostering and crew control so trips are not inadvertently assigned to crews who are not current.

  • Confirm legal responsibilities. Make sure the airline legal and commercial teams communicate lease assignment status and insurance confirmations to operations and to airports where international traffic rights depend on specific AOC details.

  • Run failure scenarios. Operational integration creates a higher likelihood of administrative confusion during irregular operations. Run table top exercises that simulate AOC paperwork gaps, a sudden registration change for a flight, or a diverted aircraft with mixed crewing. If you can create and rehearse mitigation steps now you reduce real world risk later.

What passengers will notice and why it matters for crews

Passengers already saw a combined booking experience and some branded changes. From an operational point of view those front end changes matter because they change load sheets, passenger lists and transfer expectations on the ground. Crews must be prepared to answer customer questions about connecting itineraries and rebookings created by the brand consolidation. Operations teams should ensure agents and crew information packages are updated in tandem with booking changes.

Bottom line for pilots and operational staff

Mergers like this are logistics and paperwork heavy. Safety does not tolerate shortcuts. Expect gradual changes rather than a single cutover. Keep paperwork current, verify registrations and manuals for every flight, demand clear MEL and maintenance handovers, and insist on training that documents the differences you will face in the cockpit and in the ops room. The recombination of the Tata low cost carriers will produce commercial scale and route density that can be positive for operational resilience. The risk window is the integration phase. Practical preparation and conservative decision making are your best hedges against that risk.