Air India to replace CEO Campbell Wilson? N Chandrasekaran looking for new chief executive for airline, say reports
Air India is actively hunting for a new candidate for the post of its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), as Tata Sons looks to replace Campbell Wilson, according to reports. Tata Sons, the owner of Air India, has been engaging with senior aviation leaders from across the globe as it explores a revamp of the leadership team overseeing its airline operations.The talks are taking place even as Wilson’s current tenure is scheduled to run until June 2027. Campbell Wilson assumed the roles of chief executive and managing director at Air India in July 2022, joining the airline after a 26 year career with Singapore Airlines, where he served in several senior positions across the mainline carrier and its fully owned budget subsidiary, Scoot.Similar leadership changes are anticipated at Air India Express, the group’s budget carrier, where the term of chief executive Aloke Singh is also due to end in 2027.People aware of the discussions told ET that group chairman N Chandrasekaran has spoken with the chief executives of at least two major international airlines based in the UK and the US as possible successors to Wilson.
Why is Air India looking for a new CEO?
One source told Reuters that Tata Group became dissatisfied with Wilson’s performance last year, despite having given him wide latitude to address the airline’s challenges after its acquisition from the government. After the deadliest aviation accident globally in the past decade – the Air India 171 crash in Ahmedabad – aviation regulators highlighted a series of concerns at the airline. These ranged from aircraft being operated without completing emergency equipment checks to delays in replacing engine components, falsification of maintenance records and gaps in monitoring crew fatigue.Chandrasekaran, who also serves as chairman of Air India, is said to be dissatisfied with the speed at which operational improvements and execution have progressed, the officials told the financial daily.Chandrasekaran is also understood to have held frequent performance review meetings with Wilson in recent months. People familiar with the developments told ET that a change at the top of Air India could occur well before Wilson’s term formally expires. However, a person close to Wilson said the chief executive is involved in succession planning and has already informed the board that he would not be able to continue beyond 2027. Group officials disputed this account, maintaining that no such conversation has taken place at the board level.They added that the push for leadership transition is being steered directly by the group chairman.Campbell Wilson, who is from New Zealand, had unveiled a five year roadmap in 2022 aimed at reshaping the carrier into a globally competitive airline while strengthening its financial position. Nearly three years into that plan, the outcomes have been uneven, the ET report said.During his tenure, one of the most complex elements of the strategy, the integration of Vistara into Air India, was carried out without disruption. The airline also undertook a major fleet expansion and, on several high traffic metro routes, managed to surpass market leader IndiGo.At the same time, progress on the broader overhaul has been significantly held back by persistent global supply chain disruptions. These issues slowed the delivery of new aircraft and pushed back the refurbishment of older planes, limiting the pace of transformation.The delays have weighed on operational performance, with service quality and punctuality coming under strain. Recurrent technical problems affecting the wide body fleet, which operates long haul services to Europe and North America, have added to the challenges.“We should have received 28 brand new aircraft by now. But the actual number of new aircraft designed by and for Air India that we have received is zero. So, we have been heavily impacted by supply chain challenges,” Wilson said recently.Operational oversight has intensified since the fatal crash last year that claimed 260 lives, even though a preliminary probe has not pointed to any lapse in the aircraft or the airline’s engineering standards.Following the accident, senior government officials are said to have bypassed Wilson and engaged directly with Tata Group’s top management, a development understood to have influenced assessments around the executive’s future at the airline, the ET report added.Regulatory pressure has also increased, with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation issuing show cause notices to several senior executives, including Wilson, over alleged violations and compliance lapses. One such case involved the operation of an aircraft with an expired licence.Financial recovery has been further complicated by Pakistan’s airspace closure, which has forced longer flight paths and higher costs. In FY25, Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express reported a combined loss of Rs 10,859 crore on revenue of 78,636 crore, making them the Tata Group’s largest loss making businesses.
