Inside Indian Aviation's Biggest Week with Tewolde & Willie Walsh (Ameya Joshi & Sean Mendis)

In a wild 48 hour window, Indian aviation delivered a decade’s worth of news, forcing an emergency out-of-turn Episode 75 of The Indian AvGeek! Air India named Ethiopian Airlines architect Tewolde Gebremariam as its new CEO. Simultaneously, IndiGo has got industry heavyweight Willie Walsh right as it marks its 20th anniversary. To top it off, IndiGo quietly pulled back its leased Boeing 787 long-haul operations, while Air India went on the offensive, expanding North American routes and upgrading its Toronto services.

Host Vishal Mehra sits down with aviation experts Sean Mendis and Ameya Joshi (NetworkThoughts) to break down this historic week.

In this episode:

• The "Indian Plane League" (IPL): Do Tewolde and Willie Walsh signal that Indian aviation has officially moved to global-tier competition?
• The Tewolde Factor: How he achieved Ethiopian’s 15-year goal in 11 years and whether the "Ethiopian Model" can work for Air India's massive domestic O&D market.
• Willie Walsh at IndiGo: Can a legacy full-service network leader manage an LCC hybrid evolution without disrupting IndiGo’s cost DNA?
• The 787 Reality Check: Why IndiGo’s Norse damp-lease experiment failed under currency, airspace, and ACMI pressures.
• Air India’s Long-Haul Strategy: Capturing diaspora loyalty with Mumbai–Toronto flights and refreshed long-haul cabins.
• The 5-Year Outlook: Who wins the long-haul battle when two market leaders adopt opposite widebody strategies?

The Indian AvGeek streams on all podcast apps.

Connect with us:
Vishal Mehra - @vishal1mehra
Sean Mendis - @SeanMendis
Ameya Joshi - @Khabri_Lal

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