Tata Sons Chairman N. Chandrasekaran acknowledged that Air India is going through a challenging period and that they remain committed to building a world-class airline.
“While our future is bright and we have laid a solid foundation for our ambitions, we are going through a challenging time, the impact of which is most visible in the airline industry…The Tata Group remains committed to the Air India group. The Board is fully supportive and will continue to work closely with the management team," said Chandrasekaran while speaking at an Air India employee town hall on Friday.
The town hall meeting was conducted days after Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson announced his resignation amid mounting losses and operational challenges. According to reports, the airlines' losses could be as high as Rs 20,000 crore in the recently concluded financial year 2025-26.
The losses have escalated to record levels due to frequent airspace closures in West Asia and a permanent closure in Pakistan since March last year, rising expenses and the impact of rupee devaluation against the US dollar.
These challenges exacerbate the repercussions from the tragic Ahmedabad (Flight Al 171) crash on June 12, 2025, which resulted in 241 people on board and 19 people outside losing their lives.
“We remain committed to building a world-class airline. Our vision is to connect India to the world, and to establish service standards where there is as much dignity and respect for the passenger in the last row as there is for the passenger in the front row,” said Chandrasekaran in the gathering.
He stated that safety of passengers remain central to all their decisions. “Safety is of utmost importance for Air India. It is non-negotiable and sits at the centre of every decision we take across operations, engineering, training and customer experience,” he said.
Chandrasekaran also appreciated the Air India workforce and said that they have demonstrated resilience in difficult conditions.
“Air Indians have shown great tenacity in dealing with a perfect storm, and we must continue with the same spirit that has been demonstrated,” he said.
He stated that Air India has reached a critical stage in its transformation journey while highlighting structural and operational changes underway over the past four years.
“Over 17,000 employees have been hired and onboarded, four airlines have been merged into two, core systems are being modernised, the fleet is expanding, aircraft are undergoing major refurbishment, and our network and operational metrics continue to improve, resulting in a clear improvement in customer experience and Net Promoter Scores,” he added.