Air India’s safety record should be better than that of the world’s best airlines, Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran said on Monday, as he laid out safety, passenger trust and cost discipline as priorities for the Tata-owned airline’s next phase.

Chandrasekaran spoke at an employee townhall at Air India, where the airline’s outgoing chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD) Campbell Wilson and incoming CEO and MD Tewolde Gebremariam were also present.

Along with safety, the chairman focused on cost discipline as Air India and its low-cost subsidiary Air India Express reported a combined net loss of ₹22,238 crore in FY26, more than double the ₹10,859 crore loss in FY25.

According to sources, Chandrasekaran said the past 18 months had been particularly challenging for Air India, with geopolitical disruptions, airspace closures, fuel-price volatility and the AI171 accident affecting the airline’s operations and performance.

He said rebuilding passenger trust must be Air India’s most important priority. The airline also needed to make safety its strongest organisational value and ensure that it was reflected in everyday decisions and actions, he added.

Air India has faced multiple safety incidents in the past 15 months.

The latest incident came on August 4, when an Air India A320 flying from Phuket to Delhi suddenly lost about 300 feet while cruising at 36,000 feet. Twenty passengers and four crew members were injured.

All three of the aircraft’s hydraulic systems temporarily lost pressure, causing the autopilot and some flight controls to stop working for several seconds. The pilot-in-command subsequently tested positive for a psychoactive substance. Air India has terminated his employment.

In November last year, Air India allowed an A320 aircraft to operate eight commercial flights over two days without a valid Airworthiness Review Certificate, a mandatory document confirming that an aircraft meets required safety and maintenance standards.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation later fined Air India ₹1 crore over the lapse.

Chandrasekaran, in his speech at the townhall, also referred to the airline’s deadliest accident, which took place on June 12 last year, when flight AI171, operated by a Boeing 787-8 aircraft, crashed shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad airport, killing 241 of the 242 people on board.

Chandrasekaran said: “The most important thing Air India should aspire to have is trust in the minds of people. It is probably the only business that a billion people talk about, have views on, criticise fiercely and appreciate at times.”

According to sources, he said Air India’s safety standards should go beyond simply meeting global benchmarks and called for rigorous processes, strict compliance and personal accountability across the organisation.

“Air India must be known for caring about safety above everything else. Our safety record should not just match the best airlines in the world, it should be better than the best,” he noted.

The chairman also spoke about the need for greater consistency in customer experience and faster decision-making as the airline deals with a rapidly changing operating environment.

He said Air India needed to be more agile, meaning it should be able to respond quickly when circumstances change.

Financial sustainability was another priority highlighted by Chandrasekaran, who called for stronger cost discipline across the organisation.

He said employees at every level could play a role in improving efficiency rather than treating costs as an issue only for senior management.

“Every individual in Air India can contribute to improving cost efficiency. We have to build a stronger culture of cost consciousness across the organisation,” he noted.

Chandrasekaran also thanked outgoing CEO and MD Campbell Wilson for leading Air India through what he described as one of the most important phases in its history.

He said Wilson had helped build the foundations for the airline’s future success.

Chandrasekaran described Air India as an institution with a unique place in the minds of Indians around the world.