Air India has appointed Tewolde Gebremariam as its new Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, succeeding Campbell Wilson, as the Tata Group-owned airline enters the next phase of its transformation into a global carrier.
The appointment follows a global executive search conducted by Air India’s Board, which evaluated both internal and international candidates before unanimously selecting Gebremariam for the role.
Gebremariam previously served as CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Group for more than a decade, where he led a major expansion that transformed the airline into Africa’s largest and most profitable carrier, increasing revenues more than fourfold and nearly tripling its fleet.
Air India said Gebremariam’s experience in managing large-scale airline turnarounds, expanding long-haul international networks, developing aviation infrastructure, improving operational efficiency and maintaining high safety standards makes him well positioned to lead the airline’s next phase of growth.
Tata Sons and Air India Chairman N. Chandrasekaran said the airline has completed its initial stabilization and integration phase and is now entering a period focused on execution, expansion and profitability. He said Gebremariam’s leadership would help establish Air India as a premier global airline.
Accepting the appointment, Gebremariam called it “a profound honour” to lead Air India, saying he looks forward to building a world-class carrier that reflects India’s growing global economic stature while delivering operational reliability, high safety standards and Indian hospitality.
Air India said the new leadership will focus on improving on-time performance, fleet modernization, customer service, international connectivity and workforce development, while continuing to support India’s ambition of becoming a major global aviation hub.
The airline also thanked outgoing CEO Campbell Wilson for leading Air India’s turnaround, including overseeing major merger and integration efforts, fleet modernization initiatives and strengthening corporate governance.
Air India said details of Gebremariam’s onboarding and transition timeline will be announced at a later date.
