Campbell Wilson appointed CEO & MD of Air India

Tata Sons on Thursday announced that it has appointed Campbell Wilson as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) of Air India. The Air India board approved the appointment of Wilson subject to requisite regulatory approvals, it said in a statement.

Wilson, 50, has 26 years of aviation industry expertise across both full service and low-cost airlines. He is the CEO of Scoot, the wholly-owned low-cost subsidiary of Singapore Airlines (SIA).

Commenting on the appointment, N Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Air India said, “I am delighted to welcome Campbell to Air India. He is an industry veteran having worked in key global markets cutting across multiple functions. Further, Air India would benefit from his added experience of having built an airline brand in Asia. I look forward to working with him in building a world-class airline.”

Further, speaking on the appointment, Wilson added, “It is an honour to be selected to lead the iconic Air India and be a part of the highly respected Tata Group. Air India is at the cusp of an exciting journey to become one of the best airlines in the world, offering world-class products and services with a distinct customer experience that reflects Indian warmth and hospitality. I am excited to join Air India and Tata colleagues in the mission of realising that ambition.”

According to the statement, Wilson started off as a Management Trainee with SIA in New Zealand in 1996. He then worked for SIA in Canada, Hong Kong and Japan before returning to Singapore in 2011 as the founding CEO of Scoot, which he led until 2016. Further, he then served as the Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing of SIA before returning for a second stint as the CEO of Scoot in April 2020.

He holds a Master of Commerce degree in Business Administration from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand.

Before Wilson, Tata Sons had announced the appointment of former chairman of Turkish Airlines Ilker Ayci for the same post in the company in February this year. However, Ayci had declined the post amid controversies over his views related to India.

Air India was handed back to its founders, the Tata group, in January, almost seven decades after it was nationalized, capping years of struggle by the government to sell the struggling airline. It was a homecoming for Air India which began operations as Tata Air Services in 1932, before it was nationalized in 1953.