Air India wants more wide-body planes; high costs a 'major concern': CEO

Air India CEO Tewolde Gebremariam says the airline is seeking more wide-body aircraft for global expansion while working to reduce high operating costs and return to profitability

Air India group chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD) Tewolde Gebremariam said on Tuesday that it wants to place additional orders for wide-body aircraft to grow its international operations even as it is working to bring down the high costs, which have become a “major concern” for the airline.

 

Gebremariam — while speaking at the Aviation India and South Asia Summit — said the airline would return to profitability “very soon,” despite the financial losses it incurred.

 

Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express reported a consolidated net loss of ₹22,238 crore in FY26, more than double the ₹10,859 crore loss recorded in FY25. 

  

He said while Air India group’s shareholders — Tata group and Singapore Airlines — have given him “full backing” and have a “long term” outlook, he himself is “more impatient on profitability than the shareholders” and wants to “make Air India great again.”

 

Since its privatisation in January 2022, the Air India group has placed firm orders for 600 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing, including 80 wide-body planes comprising 50 Airbus A350s, 20 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and 10 Boeing 777X.

 

The remaining 520 are narrow-body planes, primarily used for domestic and short-haul international operations.

“We want more wide-body aircraft... the opportunity is huge,” Gebremariam said. The airline has held discussions with both Airbus and Boeing. Wide-body aircraft are larger planes with two aisles.

On the airline's immediate financial priorities, Gebremariam said bringing down operating costs was essential. “Cost per available seat kilometre (CASK) is a major concern for us. It's too high and needs to get down,” he said.

 

CASK measures how much an airline spends to operate each seat for every kilometre flown. A lower CASK means the airline can operate flights more cheaply.

“Every aspect of the business, we have to see unit costs as compared to the industry. And, we are working to bring it (unit costs) down, at least to an industry level, if not more,” he said.

The airline is also rebalancing its network to reduce the impact of airspace restrictions. Flights connecting Europe and the US have been more affected by the closure of Pakistani airspace, with Delhi facing a greater impact than Mumbai.

 

Air India will continue operating flights from Delhi but shift more of its Europe and US operations to Mumbai. It is also exploring Bengaluru as another hub.

However, Delhi will remain important for the airline's eastern and southeastern network, which has not been affected by the airspace restrictions to the same extent.

 

Gebremariam said the airline would continue developing these markets from Delhi while adjusting its European and American operations.

Air India is also strengthening its international sales teams and increasing sales through overseas markets. Gebremariam said this would help the airline balance international sales with bookings made in India and manage currency fluctuations.

 

Selling more tickets in foreign markets can help an airline earn revenues in different currencies, providing some protection when exchange rates move unfavourably.

On cost reduction, the airline has already established a multi-functional team to examine expenses across different business functions.

 

It is also working to improve coordination between Air India and Air India Express, which operate under separate airline operating certificates (AOCs).

 

The two airlines are looking to improve efficiency through shared corporate functions and other synergies.

Gebremariam said the cost-reduction exercise would cover all aspects of the business. He stated that improving efficiency was the central objective, rather than relying on any single initiative to reduce expenditure.

He described geopolitical disruptions, airspace closures and high fuel prices as short-term challenges for the airline industry.

 

However, Pakistan's airspace restrictions pose an additional challenge for Indian carriers such as Air India.

The CEO said the airline needed to focus on its immediate financial challenges while continuing to build for long-term growth.

 

“One eye squarely focused on today. We have to do something today for us to navigate the headwinds that we are facing. And, we focus the second eye squarely on the future,” he added.