Air India Express has had no permanent chief executive for more than seven months, one of the longest leadership gaps at a major Indian airline in recent years. The post has been vacant since Alok Singh resigned on 19 March 2026, and no permanent successor has been named since.
Sources now say the Tata Group may run Air India and Air India Express under a single chief executive as part of its One Air India cost-saving plan. The idea would place both carriers under one leader instead of filling the Air India Express vacancy separately. Neither airline has officially confirmed the plan.
Air India chief executive Tewolde Gebremariam, who took charge on 1 October, already oversees both airlines. He has spoken of cutting needless spending across the group, and a single chief would fit that approach by removing a layer of leadership and the duplication that comes with it.
The chairman's post at Air India Express has also changed hands in the meantime. Air India chief commercial officer Nipun Agrawal is now the chairman of Air India Express, a role earlier held by Air India chief executive Campbell Wilson.
Back-end merger already under way
A board meeting on 15 October gave in-principle approval to merge the back-end support systems of the two airlines. Sales, marketing, revenue management, network planning and e-commerce have already been merged, while human resources, finance, information technology and engineering are being brought together.
The full merger of support systems may take six months, with visible impact expected from the new year and the summer schedule from the end of March. The sequence shows the group is already combining the two carriers behind the scenes, which makes a single chief a natural next step.
Seven narrow-body aircraft have already been transferred to Air India Express, and short domestic and international routes are also moving to the budget carrier. The transfers underline how the group is dividing work between the full-service airline and its low-cost arm.
Where the airlines stand in the market
The market shares cited in the report show how far apart the two Tata carriers sit from the market leader. IndiGo holds 63 percent of the market, Air India 13.6 percent, Air India Express 6.3 percent, Vistara 5.7 percent, Akasa 4.6 percent and SpiceJet 3.2 percent.
For Air India Express, the long vacancy raises questions about who is steering its growth at a time when aircraft and routes are moving its way. A single chief could give the group tighter control, but it would also leave the budget carrier without a dedicated leader of its own.
The decision now rests with the Tata Group. Until it is announced, Air India Express continues to operate without a permanent chief executive, more than seven months after the last one left.
