Tata is flying into a succession doom loop

Interglobe Aviation

08/04/2026 03:52

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

By Shritama Bose

MUMBAI, April 8 (Reuters Breakingviews) - It's a tough time to be in the Tata group's cockpit. The $260 billion conglomerate was already buffeted by its own leadership turbulence. Now the CEO of its beleaguered carrier Air India has quit, the carrier confirmed on Tuesday. That complicates Chair N Chandrasekaran's bid to stay in the pilot's seat of the unlisted holding company, Tata Sons.

Campbell Wilson had more than a year left on his five-year contract at the de facto national airline. But financial losses and operational issues, including a deadly crash, have been piling up since the Tatas bought it from the Indian government in 2022. Chandrasekaran, or Chandra as he's widely known, oversaw Air India's purchase, but the acquisition was driven by the emotional attachment to the asset by Ratan Tata, Tata Sons' late chair emeritus, whose family founded the airline prior to its nationalisation.

Wilson's departure also looks badly handled. He had, the airline said on Tuesday, told Chandra in 2024 that he intended to step down this year. That was ample time to find a successor. The board held discussions with prospective candidates, yet he's leaving with no one to take the helm. By contrast, rival Interglobe Aviation INGL.NS, or IndiGo, quickly found a replacement last month for outgoing CEO Pieter Elbers in British Airways veteran Willie Walsh.

It's reminiscent of the inability to resolve lingering leadership issues at the airline's parent. Tata Sons holds stakes in 25 public companies and private units, including the carrier and a semiconductor-making venture. A board meeting in June will decide if Chandra will get a third five-year term at the powerful Indian business. His current stint is due to end in 2027.

A year ago a renewal was all but guaranteed for the 62-year-old executive, who led the group's cash cow outsourcer Tata Consultancy Services TCS.NS for eight years and oversaw a turnaround of group companies, including Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles TAMO.NS. But problems at a number of subsidiaries have brought pushback from Noel Tata, the new head of the charitable trusts that control the holding firm.

To win over opponents, Chandra may have to lay out a fresh plan for turning around underwater businesses like Air India and the struggling e-commerce unit Tata Digital, Moneycontrol reported on Monday, citing sources. He will also be under pressure to chart ways for TCS to regain its edge as artificial intelligence tools disrupt the business model of India's largest outsourcer.

That makes Wilson's departure even more inopportune, lengthening Chandra's emergency to-do list. It looks increasingly like the Tata group is fighting to break out of a succession doom loop.

Follow Shritama Bose on LinkedIn and X.

CONTEXT NEWS

Air India confirmed on April 7 that CEO Campbell Wilson has resigned. It came hours after Reuters reported the news, citing an unnamed source with direct knowledge of the matter.

Air India said Wilson made known in 2024 his intention to quit this year.

Tata Sons chair N. Chandrasekaran is expected to spell out a clearer path to profitability for businesses such as Air India, Tata Digital and the group’s electronics manufacturing ventures, Indian news website Moneycontrol reported on April 6, citing unnamed officials from the Tata group.

Most top Tata group stocks beat the index under Chandra https://www.reuters.com/graphics/BRV-BRV/zjvqmaeqbvx/chart.png

(Editing by Antony Currie and Una Galani; Production by Ujjaini Dutta)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on BOSE/shritama.bose@thomsonreuters.com))