SINGAPORE: Air India's transformation is going to be a "long game, and there is no shortcut", its co-owner, Singapore Airlines' CEO Goh Choon Phong, said on Friday as he mentioned that the Indian carrier is facing various challenges, including Pakistan airspace closure and rupee depreciation.
At a briefing to discuss Singapore Airlines (SIA) Group's financial results for the 2025-26 financial year, he also said that Air India has "largely external challenges".
Singapore Airlines on Thursday reported a 57.4 per cent decline in net profit at SGD 1.184 billion in the fiscal year ended March 2026, mainly due to the absence of a prior-year one-off accounting gain related to the Vistara merger, and Air India losses.
Air India's loss stood at more than SGD 3.56 billion (over Rs 26,700 crore) in the financial year ended March 2026, as the carrier grappled with the fallout of airspace curbs and other headwinds, as per the figures disclosed by the SIA Group in its financial report for 2025-26.
Goh Choon Phong on Friday said the investment in Air India enables direct participation in India's high growth domestic and international markets across full-service and low-cost segments.
"Without a domestic market, investing in a secondary hub enables the SIA Group to secure long-term growth by participating directly in the fast-growing air transport markets beyond Singapore," he said in the presentation.
In the presentation, Goh Choon Phong listed out supply chain disruptions, Middle East conflict, Pakistan airspace closure, AI171 crash and rupee depreciation as the key challenges faced by Air India.
With the Pakistan airspace closure, which has been in place for more than a year, there are flight route disruptions and also increased operating costs for Air India as it has to take longer routes for various international services.
Following last year's fatal crash of an Air India Boeing 787-8 aircraft, which was operating the flight AI171 from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, there was a temporary capacity reduction.
As many as 260 people died in the crash that happened soon after take-off from Ahmedabad airport on June 12, 2025.
"Air India has largely external challenges... I have also shown you some of the actions taken in the transformation efforts, and it is going to be a long game, and there is no shortcut," the Singapore Airlines CEO said.
According to him, Air India continued to make tangible progress in its multi-year transformation programme.
Air India has hired more than 14,000 people since 2022, while the average age of staff has reduced from 54 years to 36 years, as per the presentation.
Tata Group acquired loss-making Air India from the Indian government in January 2022, and later Singapore Airlines snapped up a 25.1 per cent stake in the carrier.