Air India CEO Tewolde Gebremariam Sets Priorities for Struggling Airline

India's struggling national carrier Air India has a new CEO at the helm. And he's set his sights on safety, reliability, and profitability. In his first Town Hall with employees, Air India's CEO designate Tewolde Gebremariam outlined the airline's priorities for the future, promising to turn the airline around despite a challenging environment.

Gebremariam, a former top boss of Ethiopian Airlines, said India's favourable demographics, strong economic growth, and geographic position provide a unique foundation for Air India's future success. "These factors give us confidence that if we execute well and remain focused on our customers. AI can become not only one of the largest airlines in the world.

However, among the very best",he said.

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Gebremariam emphasized the importance of safety, saying it would remain the airline's foremost priority and guiding principle.Every Air Indian has a role to play. people (be) empowered to speak up, raise concerns and report issues without hesitation. If you see something, say something.

The stronger our reporting culture, the stronger our safety culture, he said.

Gebremariam also stressed the importance of reliability. Saying customers should be confident that flights will depart and arrive on time. Baggage will travel with them, and when disruptions occur, the airline should communicate transparently and recover quickly.

On financial performance, he acknowledged external factors have affected the airline's path to breakeven. However, stressed the need to improve both revenue and cost performance.

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Gebremariam promised to pursue expansion in a disciplined manner, ensuring the airline's people, fleet, and network are ready to support it. noting that growth is the oxygen of business. But growth must also be profitable and sustainable, he said.

Despite the challenges, Gebremariam expressed optimism about Air India's future, saying the airline has made significant progress in the past four years and there remains significant opportunity ahead. "Over the past four years, a great deal has been achieved. At the same time, there remains significant opportunity ahead of us.

That is what makes this an exciting moment for AI and for all of us." he said.