As the Middle East crisis continues to devastate the world, Air India Chief Executive Officer Campbell Wilson warned its employees that the airline is going to get hit in its operations and that the worst has still not come. Over the past three weeks of war, the airline has been forced to cancel nearly 2,500 flights to West Asia and is operating only 30 per cent of its usual schedule due to the violence across the region, the CEO clarified to its employees in an internal communication on Friday.
“The world, our region, and our industry continue to feel the impact of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East… and the effect on the Air India Group is significant, given the usual scale of our operations to, through, and beyond the region,” Wilson said in the note.
“In the three weeks since the conflict started, we have had to cancel around 2,500 flights to the region. As of today, we are able to operate only about 30 per cent of our normal Middle East schedule because airports and/or airspace are closed or are assessed as exceeding our safety thresholds,” he added.
The disruption is taking a financial toll on the sector, with jet fuel prices more than doubling, Wilson said. “Most of the impact will only start to hit us from next month,” he added, noting that the airline has already imposed a fuel surcharge on new tickets to partly offset the rising costs.
Air India has already been affected after the Pahalgam attack, highlighting the incident. Wilson said, “Flights to the UK, Europe, and North America are being rerouted even farther from the already longer routes we’ve used since the Pahalgam incident last year, burning more fuel and adding extra flying time,” he said.
However, he raised concerns over weakening travel demand amid bigger financial uncertainty. “Not every customer is willing to pay higher airfares, so there is a limit to how much we can raise prices before demand starts to fall,” he said.
Aviation Minister's Instructions
Furthermore, Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Ram Mohan Naidu, on Saturday claimed that West Asia conflict fallout should not be passed on to flyers, said Ram Mohan Naidu.
Naidu said the Centre is continuously discussing with airlines and multiple ministries, including civil aviation, external affairs, and petroleum and natural gas, to manage the current situation and ease disruptions. Describing it as a “multi‑departmental exercise,” he added that the government is regularly taking feedback from airlines to ensure smooth operations and safeguard passenger interests.
“The impact will certainly be felt in oil prices and Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF), but this should not be transferred to passengers,” the minister told reporters, stressing the government’s focus on keeping air travel affordable.