Air India’s new boss will have to navigate some turbulent weather 

Tewolde Gebremariam takes charge of Air India this week with the credentials of a turnaround specialist and the unenviable task of proving that one of India’s most ambitious corporate transformations can still become financially sustainable. 

The former Ethiopian Airlines chief succeeds Campbell Wilson at a moment when Air India needs considerably more than a change at the top. Safety and operational reliability are under intense scrutiny, the airline continues to burn cash, and the cost of rebuilding the Tata Group’s aviation business has risen sharply. 

Gebremariam officially assumes operational leadership today, although his formal designation as CEO and accountable manager is awaiting security clearance. He has been appointed CEO and managing director by Air India’s board, following a global search for a leader with experience in large-scale airline turnarounds. 

His résumé explains the attraction. During more than 11 years as CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, Gebremariam helped build the carrier into Africa’s leading airline group, expanding its fleet, international network, cargo operation, maintenance capabilities, and aviation infrastructure. He also led it through the trauma of the 2019 Boeing 737 MAX crash and the pandemic. 

Air India, however, presents a very different challenge. The Tata Group acquired the airline in 2022 with an ambitious plan to restore a once-iconic carrier to global prominence. Since then, Air India has acquired and merged airlines, added aircraft, ordered hundreds more, upgraded cabins, modernised systems, and attempted to rebuild its culture and customer proposition. 

The bill has been enormous. Air India and Air India Express recorded a combined loss of about $2.33 billion in FY26, more than twice the previous year’s loss. The airline has subsequently sought around $1.5 billion in fresh equity from Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, with the funding potentially arriving in tranches. 

That makes Gebremariam’s first challenge financial discipline. The airline needs to continue investing in fleet modernisation and operational infrastructure while simultaneously reducing the cash it consumes. It has already sought to defer deliveries of hundreds of Airbus and Boeing aircraft as Tata attempts to bring costs under control. Tata chairman N Chandrasekaran has acknowledged that the turnaround could take five to 10 years, citing legacy technology, supply-chain constraints, an ageing technical ecosystem, and the need to build a much stronger professional workforce. 

Then there is the issue that cannot be measured simply in rupees: trust. 

The June 2025 Ahmedabad crash, which killed 260 people, fundamentally altered the context around Air India. A serious incident involving an A320 flying from Phuket to Delhi in August, in which 24 people were injured after the aircraft suffered a brief loss of all three hydraulic systems, has ensured that safety remains under the microscope. 

For Gebremariam, engineering and maintenance will therefore be central to the turnaround. So will consistency: aircraft availability, on-time performance, crew discipline, customer service, and the airline’s ability to execute procedures reliably across an increasingly complicated fleet. 

The commercial challenge is equally formidable. Air India is trying to become a global network carrier while competing in a market where IndiGo has built enormous scale and cost advantages. Internationally, it faces some of the world’s strongest airlines, many of which have spent decades developing hubs that Air India is attempting to build almost from scratch. 

And external shocks have hardly helped. Pakistan’s airspace restrictions have affected Air India’s western network disproportionately, while geopolitical tensions and higher fuel costs have added pressure to an already stretched business. 

Gebremariam’s appointment thus comes at a critical time. He has experience building an airline around a hub, developing engineering and cargo capabilities, managing crises, and imposing operational discipline. But Air India will test whether those lessons can be transplanted into one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets while dealing with the enormous costs of fixing a legacy airline. 

The temptation will be to focus on growth: more aircraft, more routes, more passengers, a bigger international footprint. Gebremariam’s harder job may be deciding where not to grow. 

Air India now needs to demonstrate that every additional aircraft, route, premium seat, and dollar of capital contributes to a stronger economic model. The Tata Group can provide capital and patience, but neither is infinite. Singapore Airlines, which owns roughly 25% of Air India, is already absorbing a significant share of the pain from the airline’s losses. 

The new boss therefore inherits an airline with enormous potential and an equally enormous bill. His real test will be whether he can turn Air India’s transformation from an investment story into a business story. That may take longer than anyone initially hoped. And it will require something harder than expansion: discipline, reliability, and eventually, profit.