As a child, I was gifted a beautiful 1:400 die-cast model of an Air India Boeing 747. I chanced upon it recently, with its paint chipped in more than a few places. The task of restoring it didn't look easy, but it's a far cry from the scale of challenge awaiting Tewolde Gebremariam.
Tewolde was announced as CEO last week, and before even moving into his new office, his in-tray is already overflowing.
You can read more about Tewolde in this profile by my colleague Abhijith Ganapavaram.
A surprise appointment, Tewolde seems a fitting choice when you look at his resume: The former Ethiopian Airlines CEO brought the company through a crash that killed 157 and grounded Boeing 737 MAX jets worldwide.
He will need to draw on that experience at Air India, as the investigation into last year's deadly Ahmedabad crash comes to a head with a draft final report expected in October.
Safety and compliance are high on Tewolde's to-do list. As the company acknowledged in a document in December, it needs a serious overhaul and that will be a top priority.
Recent headlines haven’t been kinder to Air India, with the latest being a probe into a flight from Phuket that experienced a sudden loss of altitude.
Here's a comprehensive list of the challenges facing the incoming CEO.
Another key point is profitability. Air India has not reported a profit since its return to private ownership in 2022, and last fiscal year posted a record loss.
Tewolde will need to keep an eye on the bottom line as he pursues the Tata Group-owned company's ambition of becoming a leading global airline, which can be a delicate balancing act.
The carrier has sought to defer the delivery of hundreds of jets from Airbus and Boeing as a way to cut costs.
An internal document reviewed by Reuters described Tewolde as a “change leader”.
That seems appropriate after Tata Chairman N. Chandrasekran last month lengthened the timeline for Air India’s turnaround to up to a decade.
