'Air India to stay on expansion course despite headwinds,' says CCO Nipun Aggarwal

New Delhi: Air India will maintain its ambitious expansion plans including doubling capacity on existing routes and adding new destinations over the next five years despite mounting losses, said Nipun Aggarwal, chief commercial officer.

Tata Group-owned Air India placed combined orders for 470 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing in 2023, followed by another 300 in 2024. Majority of these single-aisle and wide-body jets are yet to be delivered.

"We want to connect every major city in the world with India and make the country a hub for global travel," Aggarwal told ET on the sidelines of the FAITH conclave. "We want to build an airline that India can be proud of."


The board of Tata Sons earlier expressed concern over the continued large losses incurred by Air India and discussed the possibility of delaying delivery of some aircraft. The salt-to-software conglomerate acquired the loss-making airline from the government in 2022.

In FY27, Air India posted losses of more than ₹27,000 crore. Losses swelled due to the continuing closure of Pakistani airspace since last year, which forces Air India planes to take longer detours for flights to Europe and America, leading to higher fuel burn and maintenance costs.

Besides the disruptions to international operations, Air India has also been hit by an exponential spike in fuel costs stemming from the West Asia conflict, forcing it to cancel more than 100 daily flights in June, July, and August.

Aggarwal said the airline has started restoring most of those curtailed routes. "The cuts were temporary and we have already reinstated some of those or are in the process of doing so," he said.

He cautioned, however, that if the Pakistani airspace closure continues, it may force Indian carriers to redraw their plans. "Currently, we expect that there will be a solution to this soon as has been the case earlier," he said.

The Tata Group veteran is among the frontrunners to succeed Campbell Wilson as chief executive. Wilson resigned in April and is expected to leave in the next two months.

The delay in appointment of a successor has unsettled employees. While Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran has become more active in the carrier's daily operations, employees say an announcement on the new CEO should be made on urgent priority.

"The chairman has a mandate of running multiple group companies and cannot be expected to run a business like aviation which needs a hands-on approach," said an Air India employee. "The company needs to appoint a CEO fast and empower him fully to run the company."