Air India CEO race narrows to 4 names

NEW DELHI: The race for the Maharaja’s crown of thorns — Air India CEO’s position — has entered its final stage with the selection narrowing down to four names, including AI chief commercial officer Nipun Aggarwal, erstwhile Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan, who is now senior vice president at Singapore Airlines (SIA), and two expatriates.

The airline’s board is scheduled to meet on Thursday and a call may be taken as the delay in naming outgoing CEO Campbell Wilson’s successor is adding to the troubles of the beleaguered airline in what is already the toughest time for aviation globally since Covid.

While the names of the expats shortlisted for the AI CEO role are not yet confirmed, the two Indians — Aggarwal and Kannan — are strong candidates. Kannan, an SIA veteran, while Aggarwal, a Tata veteran, has played a key role in AI ever since the airline’s homecoming.

“As of now, the new CEO’s selection is not on the May 7 meeting agenda. But then who knows (if the same is included) as the urgency and gravity of the situation is known to both the promoters — Tata Group and SIA — who are losing money. Apart from losses, AI’s condition is beginning to hurt SIA’s reputation too,” said a person in the know.

AI, along with low-cost AI Express, had returned to Tata fold in Jan 2022. This is the third time that a hunt is on for a suitable CEO in just over five years. While Tata has invested thousands of crores in AI Group since then, the turnaround — both financial and operational — has been slower than anticipated due to both internal and external reasons. During the last financial year, AI is estimated to have registered losses of close to Rs 24,000 crore. There is also said to be disquiet within Bombay House over the losses of the new businesses, led by AI.

Just like AI’s turnaround, the hunt for a new CEO is also taking longer than expected. Wilson had taken over as AI CEO in May 2022. Just two years later, he had conveyed to Tata Sons and AI chairman N Chandrasekaran that he wanted to step down in 2026.

IndiGo, on the other hand, saw its schedule collapse last Dec. Since then, its CEO Pieter Elbers resigned and the airline has announced his successor — former British Airways CEO William Walsh, who will take over by Aug 3. Given his focus on cost cutting that had earned him the nickname of “Slasher” during his BA avatar, Indian aviation industry insiders had speculated Walsh might head AI given its runaway cost structure till IndiGo announced him as Elbers’ successor.

“IndiGo does not have a dearth of desi professionals who could have become the CEO. Naming an Indian for the top job could earn AI some brownie points that it badly needs. No one can say that an expat is the panacea for Indian airline woes after the stints of Elbers and Wilson,” said an industry insider.

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