2 new CEOs, 2 very different challenges at IndiGo and Air India

Some of the troubles that IndiGo and Air India grappled with over the last financial year, and continue to grapple with in some measure, were common. These primarily included the Pakistani airspace closure after the Pahalgam terror attack, the sharp depreciation of the rupee, West Asian airspace disruption, and the surge in international oil and jet fuel prices.

Then there were airline-specific crises as well — the tragic crash of Air India flight AI 171 that killed 260 people in June 2025, and IndiGo’s network-wide operational meltdown in early December.

While some of the challenges for the incoming CEOs may be common, the longer-term challenges for the two executives could hardly be more different. IndiGo remains India’s largest airline by a wide margin and one of the world’s most profitable low-cost carriers. Air India is undergoing a once-in-a-generation transformation programme involving fleet renewal, organisational restructuring, and brand rebuilding.

Both airlines are in different zones and looking for different things to chart the next phase of their growth. How Walsh and Gebremariam perform would shape not just the future of the two carriers, but also the trajectory of Indian aviation. While Walsh has already taken charge at IndiGo, Air India said that details regarding the exact onboarding timeline for Gebremariam will be shared in due course. Foreign-origin leadership executives of Indian airlines require security clearance from the government before taking charge.

The two CEOs — Walsh and Gebremariam

Walsh has spent decades leading airlines through restructuring, consolidation, and regulatory change, first at Aer Lingus, then British Airways, and later International Airlines Group (IAG). Most recently, he was director general of global airline industry body International Air Transport Association (IATA), where he cemented his position as one of aviation’s most influential voices on airline economics and regulation.

In Walsh, IndiGo is looking for a leader capable of managing not just a highly efficient airline, but an increasingly complex global aviation business at a time when it plans to go big on its international network expansion.

Gebremariam oversaw one of aviation’s most successful long-term transformations, turning Ethiopian Airlines into a global airline and the largest carrier in Africa, and turned Addis Ababa into a major aviation hub. He also has a track record of driving sustained profitability while navigating complex economic cycles and dynamic and challenging global markets.

Gebremariam served in Ethiopian Airlines for over 36 years, 11 of which were as group CEO. He took an early retirement from the airline in March 2022 due to health issues, and is currently a senior strategic advisor to Delta Airlines of the US. For Air India, which is attempting a highly ambitious airline turnaround, Gebremariam’s experience would be particularly relevant.

On Walsh’s desk at IndiGo

In his earlier stints as an airline CEO, Walsh developed the reputation of being a ruthless cost-cutter with an aggressive no-nonsense approach to reducing and optimising expenses, while stabilising and expanding operations. But his primary challenge at IndiGo is unlikely to be related to costs as the airline is counted among the most cost-efficient globally. Notably, some of Walsh’s earlier assignments were at airlines that were bloated and loss-making, and required certain drastic measures on the cost front. IndiGo is quite the opposite.

The key focus area for Walsh would most likely be to power IndiGo’s international ambitions, specifically long-haul expansion, in an increasingly complicated operating environment globally. The airline is already India’s largest domestic carrier with a market share of 66%, and is also the country’s largest international airline, but its network is largely limited to short-haul international routes that can be serviced by its workhorse Airbus A320 fleet.

IndiGo launched long-haul, wide-body operations to Europe and the UK with damp-leased Boeing 787 aircraft last year, but has now decided to exit the arrangement due to operating environment-related challenges amid the West Asia conflict. Nonetheless, the airline is betting big on long-range routes as its next growth frontier. IndiGo has 60 wide-body Airbus A350 aircraft on order. IndiGo is already operating flights to Athens using the extra-long-range variant of the narrow-body Airbus A321 aircraft — the A321XLR.

For Walsh, ensuring smooth and cost-efficient induction and operation of the remaining A321 XLRs and then the A350s — the first of which are expected by next year — and taking the airline global are likely to be the key priorities. This endeavour would also involve a focus on international network planning, and reworking and expanding alliances with overseas carriers. These were seen as the focus areas for his predecessor Pieter Elbers as well, under whom IndiGo rapidly expanded its international footprint over the past few years. Elbers abrupt exit in March has been linked to IndiGo’s network-wide operational disruption in December.

Walsh is also expected to focus on strengthening IndiGo’s schedule and operational resilience, so that what happened in December is never repeated, particularly as the carrier’s network expands and densifies beyond Indian shores. This could mean investing in areas that do not immediately improve profitability and certainly lead to higher costs — additional crew reserves, stronger operational planning, more sophisticated scheduling systems, and greater flexibility to overcome unforeseen operational disruptions.

Gebremariam’s challenges at Air India

Air India’s challenge is fundamentally different, and so would be Gebremariam’s. Unlike IndiGo, Air India is not trying to fine-tune and expand an already successful large airline, but is trying to build one, and that too a premium carrier that hopes to be counted among the best in the world. Gebremariam would be banking on his experience at Ethiopian Airlines for this.

Under outgoing CEO Campbell Wilson — Air India’s first post-privatisation chief executive — the carrier embarked upon an ambitious transformation programme to shrug off its legacy image of a rundown government-owned airline. But it also faced challenges due to supply chain woes, suffered a tragic plane crash, came under intense regulatory heat, and grappled with heavy financial losses and headwinds like airspace closures and surging fuel prices. Despite the challenges, the foundational parts of the airline’s transformation plan have been executed under Wilson’s watch.

A new brand identity is in place, group airlines have been consolidated into two from four, synergies in their networks and operations has gone up considerably, massive aircraft orders are in place to ensure a steady stream of new jets, a large number of its legacy jets have been given modern cabins and more are being retrofitted, heavy investments have been made in technology and other key areas, and hiring for key operational roles is being done on a continuous basis. Air India has also expanded collaboration with its shareholder Singapore Airlines, and has entered into or deepened partnerships with various other global airlines.

In other words, Air India’s transformation has moved beyond announcements, with much of the groundwork done, and has now entered the far more complex phase of execution. For Gebremariam, the biggest challenge would be to execute the next stage of the transformation plan, which would involve making product and service standards uniform and build an enviable hub-and-spoke network to equip Air India to compete with other global carriers of repute in terms of reach as well as quality of service.

All of this would have to be accompanied by the endeavour to turn the loss-making airline into one that is consistently profitable. This would require Gebremariam to be focussed on cost control and efficiency, while building a premium airline. That would be no mean task.

Safety is also likely to dominate Air India’s and Gebremariam’s agenda. Various aspects of the airline’s transformation — from pilot training to maintenance practices and operational decision-making — will also be judged through the lens of safety as the shadow of the AI 171 crash still looms. Passengers, regulators and investors will all expect evidence that safety systems, operational oversight, and organisational culture are improving continuously.