Air India eyes more long-haul jets as new CEO resets growth path

New CEO signals a pivot to bigger aircraft

At the Aviation India event in New Delhi, Tewolde Gebremariam said Air India is evaluating additional widebody aircraft and wants to build on existing commitments, without giving a number. His message was clear: "Thus far, Air India had been punching below its weight and that is going to change," and on twin aisles, "We have many of them, but we need more."

That marks a turn from the past year. Following privatization and orders totaling about 600 jets, Tata Sons Pvt. asked the carrier to curb its rapid expansion after a record loss. After Tewolde assumed the role in September, backing from the airline's shareholders returned for a long-horizon expansion plan, with particular emphasis on widebodies crucial to international flying.

Orders, timelines, and the money context

Air India already has roughly 80 widebody aircraft on order from Airbus SE and Boeing Co. With new long-haul deliveries tight across the industry, the timeline for any fresh deal would probably see no aircraft handed over for several years. According to Tewolde, Tata Group has allowed management to map strategy up to two decades ahead, calling present losses temporary and saying the airline will be profitable "soon."

Operations, cargo, and group integration

Since coming onboard, Tewolde has kicked off a wide-ranging program to reduce losses while boosting revenue and operational performance. A key focus is cargo, where average utilization is near 35% of total capacity, according to people familiar. He has also pushed teams to address maintenance-related disruptions, arguing reliability should be stronger given much of the fleet is relatively young. India's aviation regulator stated last year that the airline logged more safety-related incidents than its domestic competitors.

He is exploring tighter integration across the group's airlines, including a possible combination that would fold Air India Express, the budget unit, within the main group - an idea Bloomberg News first disclosed in September. The goal is to realize efficiencies and prevent the duplication that comes with running two separate airlines.

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Routes and what it means for your portfolio

Tewolde is also weighing whether more Europe and US services should route through Mumbai instead of Delhi. Flights leaving the capital have faced disruptions because Pakistani airspace is closed to Indian carriers, forcing lengthier westbound routings. The bottom line: watch how added widebody commitments, tighter group integration, and route adjustments flow through to yield and load factor - revenue per seat and seats filled - which drive airline earnings over time.

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