Pragya Priyadarshini, Managing Director, Primus Partners, highlights that Indian airlines have been contending with persistent structural headwinds, including elevated fuel taxation, currency depreciation, and dollar-denominated liabilities. These have intensified operational and financial pressures. She notes that several recent airline leaders were appointed with mandates to deliver strategic transformation, but their tenures were overtaken by crises such as fatal incidents and airspace disruptions to regulatory changes and fuel shocks, significantly altering their responsibilities towards addressing enduring structural issues such as cost architecture, fleet gaps, and safety culture, while simultaneously navigating external shocks.