The airline builder: Meet Tewolde Gebremariam, the Ethiopian aviation veteran tasked with flying Air India into its next era

When Tata Group began searching for a successor to Campbell Wilson, it was likely looking for more than just an airline executive. It probably wanted someone who had built an airline, navigated crises, expanded globally and consistently delivered profits in one of the world's most competitive aviation markets. Tewolde Gebremariamappears to bring many of those credentials as he takes charge of Air India's next phase. Notably, he had also been shortlisted for the chief executive's role at Pakistan International Airlines Corp., according to a Bloomberg News report in July, underscoring his standing in the global aviation industry.

On Wednesday, the Tata Group-owned airline appointed the former Ethiopian Airlines Group chief as its Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, handing one of global aviation's most respected turnaround specialists the responsibility of steering India's flagship carrier through the next phase of its transformation.

Also Read: Air India taps Ethiopian Airlines turnaround veteran Tewolde Gebremariam as CEO after Campbell Wilson's exit


The appointment comes at a pivotal moment for Air India. After spending the past few years stabilising operations, integrating Tata Group airlines and embarking on one of the aviation industry's largest fleet renewal programmes, the airline is now shifting its focus to execution, operational reliability and profitable growth.

From traffic officer to airline chief

Gebremariam's rise through the aviation industry is anything but conventional. He joined Ethiopian Airlines in 1985 as a traffic officer in Addis Ababa and spent nearly four decades at the carrier, taking on roles across cargo operations, commercial functions and overseas management assignments in India, Saudi Arabia and North America.

By 2004, he was heading the airline's marketing and sales division, before being promoted chief operating officer in 2006 with responsibility for commercial operations, flight operations, customer services, engineering and maintenance. In 2011, he succeeded Girma Wake as Group Chief Executive Officer, assuming charge of what was then an ambitious regional airline.

Building Africa's aviation powerhouse

Over the next 11 years, Gebremariam transformed Ethiopian Airlines into Africa's largest and one of its most profitable airline groups.

During his tenure, annual revenue grew more than fourfold, while the fleet expanded from 33 aircraft to about 130. Passenger traffic rose from roughly three million to 12 million annually before the pandemic, while Addis Ababa emerged as one of the world's leading transit hubs connecting Africa with Asia, Europe and the Americas.

Also Read: Air India CEO Campbell Wilson resigns after Ahmedabad crash, airspace closure trouble Tata-owned carrier

The airline also invested more than $700 million in aviation infrastructure, including cargo terminals, maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities, flight simulators, training academies and hospitality assets, creating one of Africa's most integrated aviation ecosystems.

Leading through crisis

If rapid expansion established Gebremariam's credentials, crisis management cemented his reputation.

In 2019, he became the public face of Ethiopian Airlines after the crash of Flight 302, one of the two fatal Boeing 737 MAX accidents that led to the aircraft's worldwide grounding. A year later, as the COVID-19 pandemic crippled global aviation, Ethiopian Airlines avoided seeking a government bailout by swiftly converting passenger aircraft into freighters and leveraging its cargo business to offset the collapse in passenger traffic.

The twin crises elevated Gebremariam's standing within the global aviation industry as a leader capable of balancing operational resilience with long-term strategic planning.

A respected voice in global aviation

Beyond Ethiopian Airlines, Gebremariam has played an influential role in shaping the global aviation industry.

He has served on the Board of Governors of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the Executive Committee of the African Airlines Association (AFRAA), the United Nations Secretary-General's High-Level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport, and the boards of several Ethiopian public-sector organisations.

After stepping down from Ethiopian Airlines in 2022, citing health reasons, he founded aviation consultancy TGM Advisory Services and has been serving as Senior Strategic Advisor at Delta Air Lines.

Also Read: Air India sets up interim management committee amid CEO delay

An economics graduate from Addis Ababa University with an MBA from the Open University in the United Kingdom, Gebremariam has received numerous international honours, including FlightGlobal's Airline Strategy Award, African CEO of the Year and recognition among Africa's most influential business leaders.

The Air India challenge

Those credentials will now face perhaps their biggest test.

Unlike Ethiopian Airlines, which he helped build over nearly four decades, Air India is a legacy airline in the midst of a complex transformation. The carrier is integrating multiple airline businesses, inducting hundreds of new aircraft, restoring service standards, navigating supply-chain and geopolitical disruptions, and trying to reclaim its place among the world's leading network carriers.

For Tata Group, the appointment signals confidence that the next phase of Air India's journey requires not just a manager, but a builder. For Gebremariam, it is an opportunity to replicate, on one of aviation's biggest stages, the transformation that made Ethiopian Airlines the benchmark for African aviation.