Air India gets new boss as Tewolde Gebremariam takes charge

Mumbai | New Delhi: Tewolde Gebremariam will take charge of Air India on Monday, replacing former chief executive Campbell Wilson at a time when the airline is under pressure to improve safety and operational reliability and stem losses, people aware of the development said.

While the former chief of Ethiopian Airlines will not be officially designated CEO and accountable manager yet because his security clearance is pending, Air India chairman N Chandrasekaran is expected to introduce him to employees at a town hall on Monday, marking the beginning of operational charge, the people said. Gebremariam's security clearance is expected by month-end.

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Air India did not comment.

Chandrasekaran and former Air India chairman and managing director Pradeep Singh Kharola, who have been guiding Gebremariam since he joined the Tata airline early last month, will continue to work closely with him in the initial few months, officials close to the matter said.

Considerable Autonomy

Gebremariam takes over as Air India faces multiple challenges including large losses, fresh funding requirements and heightened scrutiny over safety. The airline posted a loss of over ₹26,000 crore for FY26 and has sought ₹10,000 crore in fresh equity infusion from its owners, Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines.

The new head will be given considerable autonomy to do what it takes to put the airline on safe and sustainable ground, officials close to the matter said. He is expected to take a hard look at the way the airline operates, identify gaps and move quickly to address them.

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Gebremariam had already interacted with departmental heads last month and stressed the need for improvement, particularly in engineering and safety matters and yield.

The airline has been facing intense safety scrutiny after the fatal Ahmedabad crash, which killed over 270 people in June last year. On August 4, around 20 passengers and four crew members were injured when a Phuket-Delhi flight suffered a sudden loss of altitude. Air India dismissed the captain of the aircraft on Friday after the preliminary investigation said he was tested "non-negative" for a psychoactive substance in a confirmatory test. Besides safety, Gebremariam is expected to sharpen the focus on consistency in operations, adherence to procedures and improving the airline's overall reliability.

A key area of focus will be engineering and maintenance capability.

The new CEO brings extensive experience in building operational and engineering capabilities from his tenure at Ethiopian Airlines, and is expected to strengthen Air India's technical organisation and maintenance systems as the airline prepares to operate a significantly larger fleet.

Senior officials said they expect Gebremariam to rejig teams or restructure their function where necessary to improve execution, sharpen accountability, and drive operational efficiency. "We expect that quite a few senior executives may leave as the new CEO will bring in fresh faces," an Air India employee said on the condition of anonymity.

Financial discipline will be another important part of his mandate. Alongside the focus on growth and fleet expansion, Gebremariam has been asked to keep a close watch on cash, costs and profitability, strengthen the leadership pipeline and create a high-performance culture with greater accountability across functions, people cited above said.

Monday's town hall is likely to set the tone for the new CEO's tenure and underline the airline's renewed emphasis on safety, operational excellence, customer experience and financial discipline, they said.