Air India’s board will meet on May 7 to review cost-saving measures, discuss CEO succession plans and consider the airline’s FY26 financials as mounting losses and the Middle East conflict intensify pressure on the Tata Group-owned carrier, PTI reported.Sources told news agency PTI that the board, chaired by Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran, is scheduled to meet in Mumbai.The Air India Group is projected to have incurred losses of more than Rs 22,000 crore in the financial year ended March 2026, with rising fuel costs and airspace disruptions worsening the situation.Among the key items on the agenda are measures to cut costs, selection of the next chief executive and a review of financial performance for 2025-26, sources said. Tata Sons and Air India did not comment.Campbell Wilson, the current CEO and a Singapore Airlines Group veteran, is expected to step down later this year, prompting the search for a successor.Names from Air India, Singapore Airlines and possible European candidates are understood to be under consideration.One source said there is also a possibility of a joint MD or CEO structure.Singapore Airlines owns a 25.1 per cent stake in Air India.Apart from Chandrasekaran and Wilson, the airline’s board includes Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong, Sanjiv Mehta, Alice Vaidyan, P R Ramesh and P B Balaji.As part of efforts to contain costs, Air India is considering unbundling meals from ticket prices and making lounge access optional for business class passengers.Under the plan, passengers who do not want meals may be offered a lower fare category, while business class travellers may choose whether to pay for lounge access.Sources said the proposals are still under discussion and no final decision has been taken.The airline has also been hit by airspace restrictions linked to the West Asia conflict, forcing longer international routes and increasing fuel burn.In a message to staff on May 1, Wilson said the airspace and fuel cost situation remained highly challenging.“… massive rise in jet fuel prices which, together with airspace closures and longer flying routes, has caused many of our international flights to become unprofitable to operate,” he said, PTI quoted.Wilson said cuts in international flights made in April and continuing in May may need to be extended into June and July.“We very much regret the disruption to our customers’ plans and our crew’s rosters, and hope that the Middle East situation settles — and the Strait of Hormuz opens — soon so that we can get back to a more normal state,” he said.He added that domestic profitability had also been hit, though to a lesser extent because of the government’s cap limiting domestic fuel price increases to 25 per cent.“To partially compensate for the huge spike in costs, we have increased airfares and imposed fuel surcharges but, understandably, these higher airfares impact customer demand, so we can only raise fares so far before people decide to stay home,” he said.On April 26, Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet told the government the Indian aviation sector was under extreme stress and close to “stopping operations”, seeking changes in jet fuel pricing and financial support.Jet fuel prices for international flights were raised by a little over 5 per cent in the monthly revision on May 1.Globally, airlines are also facing pressure from the West Asia turmoil, with several carriers adopting cost-cutting measures, while US ultra low-cost airline Spirit Airlines has shut operations.IATA Director General Willie Walsh said on April 29 that Asia and Europe could face jet fuel shortages in coming months, with elevated fuel costs increasingly being passed on through ticket prices.
