Air India is launching a makeover of its aging aircraft, adding upgraded cabins to older aircraft, inducting new aircraft, and introducing premium airport lounges as part of a broader effort to strengthen revenues and return to profitability. The airline is now turning its focus to higher value passengers to improve earnings and return to profitability.The airline is investing about $400 million (Rs 3,622 crore) to upgrade inflight cabins across its wide-body fleet, including the Boeing 787 and earlier 777 aircraft, which have faced complaints from passengers over bad seating and declining food quality.The Tata Group-owned carrier is pushing for premium traffic, with Chief Customer Officer Rajesh Dogra confirming that it will operate eight Boeing 787-8 aircraft with fully refurbished interiors this year, reports ET. Earlier on Sunday, Air India introduced its first retrofitted Boeing 787 aircraft, which is set to enter service on European routes soon. The upgraded Business Class features suite-style seating with sliding privacy doors, as well as enclosed storage compartments, redesigned seat controls and adjustable armrests that include built-in water bottle storage. The aircraft were originally delivered to Air India in 2015 during the state ownership phase.“Cabin quality has been one of the key issues in our transformation journey and one we always wanted to address. We are rapidly modernizing the backbone of our long-haul fleet and raising the bar for customers flying between India and the world,” Dogra told the financial agency.Along with the fleet upgrade, the airline is also set to induct around six wide-body aircraft this year and expand its ground infrastructure with new premium lounges at key international gateways including San Francisco and New York. In February, it inaugurated its first such lounge in Delhi, which is its primary hub.Dogra said these changes are expected to help Air India attract more high-value passengers, thereby improving ticket yields. Premium cabins, particularly business and first class, remain important revenue drivers for airlines, often offsetting lower fares in economy.“We are already seeing the benefits of operating aircraft with new interiors on routes like Dubai, New York, London,” Dogra said. “It will only improve as more and more new aircraft are added.”According to the airline, customer satisfaction has also improved significantly, with Net Promoter Scores increasing significantly following the introduction of new aircraft and refurbished cabins.