New Delhi | September 7, 2026 | INFRAINTEL Bureau
(ETV Bharat)
Air India’s incoming chief executive and managing director Tewolde Gebremariam has asked employees to focus on safety, operational basics and professional handling of disruptions as the airline enters a new phase of its transformation.
Gebremariam addressed staff with Air India chairman N Chandrasekaran and outgoing chief Campbell Wilson. The former Ethiopian Airlines Group chief will assume charge after receiving required approvals.
He identified punctual departures and arrivals, baggage delivery, clean aircraft and employee empowerment to stop unsafe activity as foundations of customer experience and trust. Chandrasekaran also urged stronger cost consciousness and said the airline’s safety record should aspire to exceed industry standards.
Management acknowledged that geopolitical disruption, airspace closures, fuel volatility, financial pressure and the AI171 accident had made the preceding 18 months particularly difficult. Air India remains on a multi-year transformation plan and intends to induct more than 100 aircraft over two years.
Leadership messaging will need to translate into independently measured safety performance, schedule reliability, disruption recovery, fleet availability, staff engagement, customer complaints and financial improvement. Culture change will depend on whether employees can report risks without retaliation and see timely corrective action.