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New Delhi: Air India reported a worse-than-expected net loss of $2.4 billion (over Rs. 22,000 crore) for the Financial Year 2026 as the company hasn’t been able to get over the challenges faced last year. The massive deficit has been attributed to the fatal air crash in June 2025, where a Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed just after taking off from Ahmedabad airport while the closure of Pakistani airspace has also forced the company to bear enormous losses due to excessive fuel burn.
Unexpected losses on top of internal estimates
According to sources, Air India had estimated annual losses of about $1.6 billion but that has been massively overshot due to the air crash and the closure of airspace due to Operation Sindoor. This has come as a massive setback for Air India, which then Chairman Late Ratan Tata re-acquired from the government in January 2022.
Following the loss, Air India has requested its parent company, the Tata Group, and its minority shareholder, Singapore Airlines for emergency funds to tide over the losses. This comes at a time when the company is in the midst of a mega expansion spree, with orders of more than 570 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing.
This loss raises serious questions about Air India’s ambitions to become a world-class global carrier, with the need for recurring cash injections testing the patience of investors.
“Air India is clearly a huge problem for the group, even as steps have been taken to improve the quality of service. It is also true that the airline saw a tragic air crash but even so, the massive losses indicate a deeper problem in the airline, which the management needs to fix urgently,” an internal source told the media.
The Tata Group is now hunting for a replacement for outgoing CEO and MD Campbell Wilson, someone who can steer the company from the mess it finds itself in.
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