4 days ago

Air India Puts Safety and Trust at Center of Revival

Air India is beginning a new stage of its turnaround with a new leader.

Chairman N Chandrasekaran said safety must come before everything else.

He also said the airline needs to regain passengers’ trust and control its spending.

Tewolde Gebremariam will become the new chief executive after receiving the required approvals.

He wants employees to speak up and stop operations when something seems unsafe.

He also wants flights to be on time, bags to arrive reliably and planes to be clean.

Air India has faced serious safety concerns, including a crash and another flight incident that injured 24 people.

The airline has also suffered very large financial losses.

It is continuing to upgrade its planes, cabins and technology while expanding its fleet.

Key facts

Core priorities: Safety, customer trust, operational execution and cost discipline.
Safety goal: Chandrasekaran said Air India’s safety record should be better than the best airlines in the world.
AI171 crash: The June 2025 Air India Boeing 787 crash near Ahmedabad killed 260 people, according to one report.
Recent flight incident: A Delhi-Phuket flight briefly lost altitude, injuring 24 passengers; its pilot later tested positive for a psychoactive substance.
Financial losses: Reports cited a ₹22,000-crore loss, about $2.8 billion, or more than $2 billion for the fiscal year ended March 2026.
Leadership transition: Tewolde Gebremariam is expected to succeed Campbell Wilson as CEO and Managing Director after regulatory approvals.
Fleet expansion: Air India has more than 500 aircraft on order and plans to add around 600 aircraft to its fleet.

thehansindia.com · 3 days ago

telegraphindia.com · 3 days ago

financialexpress.com · 4 days ago