Air India’s turnaround will take 5–10 years, says N Chandrasekaran
Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran says Air India’s rebuild hinges on fleet renewal, service upgrades, technology and talent. Air India reported FY26 revenue of ₹71,870 crore and a ₹15,367.75 crore loss, while Air India Express lost ₹6,767.29 crore.
What happened
Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran said Air India’s turnaround will require 5-10 years of fleet renewal, service, technology and talent investments. The
Key facts
- Transformation timeline: 5-10 years
- Air India FY26 revenue: ₹71,870 crore
- Air India FY25 revenue: ₹78,636 crore
- Air India FY26 loss after tax: ₹15,367.75 crore
- Air India Express FY26 loss: ₹6,767.29 crore
- Combined FY26 losses: over ₹22,000 crore
- NPS: -35 in FY23 to +42 in June 2026
- Wide-body fleet refurbishment completion: end-FY28
Why this matters
Air India’s prolonged transformation creates openings for partnerships across aircraft leasing, MRO, digital platforms, loyalty, training and premium-service infrastructure, though counterparties should plan for a multi-year execution cycle.
What to watch
- Monthly on-time performance, cancellation rates, mishandled-baggage rates and disruption-recovery metrics versus IndiGo and major Gulf carriers.
- Aircraft delivery and engine availability milestones, especially the pace at which new aircraft replace grounded or aging capacity.
- Completion timing and quality of legacy-cabin refurbishments on flagship international routes.
- Yield, load factor, unit cost and premium-cabin mix trends, rather than revenue growth alone.
- Evidence of narrowing losses at both Air India and Air India Express, including progress toward positive operating cash flow.
- Growth in direct-booking share, loyalty enrollment, co-brand card spending and ancillary revenue per passenger.
- Signs that corporate travel buyers are restoring Air India to preferred-carrier agreements.
- Regulatory or airport-capacity developments at Delhi, Mumbai and other planned hub airports.
- Prioritize induction of new narrow-body and wide-body aircraft while accelerating retirement or redeployment of the least reliable legacy fleet.
- Concentrate cabin retrofits on premium long-haul routes where service upgrades can support fare premiums and corporate-contract wins.
- Use technology modernization to reduce disruption costs through better crew planning, maintenance forecasting, rebooking and customer communication.
- Build direct-booking economics through Maharaja Club, co-branded cards, Tata-group cross-selling and more personalized ancillary offers.
- Rationalize overlapping Air India and Air India Express routes, distribution, ground operations and back-office systems after integration.
- Protect liquidity through disciplined capacity growth, sale-and-leaseback financing, aircraft utilization improvements and tighter loss-making route review.