Pradeep Singh Kharola, who served as Air India’s Chairman and Managing Director before the airline’s privatisation, has returned to the carrier as executive director to the chairman with immediate effect,

Mr. Kharola, a former Secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation and a veteran civil servant, will work closely with Air India Chairman N. Chandrasekaran and the airline’s leadership team.

Announcing the appointment, Air India chief executive officer and managing director Campbell Wilson said Mr. Kharola’s experience would be critical as the airline prepares for a leadership transition.

“With my tenure in its final months, his experience will be invaluable in ensuring a smooth leadership transition to a new CEO,” Mr. Wilson said.

Mr. Kharola previously served as chairman and managing director of Air India and later as Secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation when Air India’s privatisation process was being undertaken by the government.

He returns to the Tata Group-owned airline at a pivotal juncture, with Air India in the process of identifying a successor to CEO Campbell Wilson, for which Chief Commercial Officer Nipun Aggarwal and former CEO of Vistara and Singapore Airlines Senior Vice President, Vinod Kannan, are among the leading contenders.

His return also comes four years after the airline’s privatisation and as it grapples with the aftermath of the June 12, 2025, Ahmedabad crash, as well as mounting financial pressures from the West Asia conflict and Pakistan’s continued closure of its airspace to Indian carriers.