Air India CEO Campbell Wilson resigns, board forms panel to find successor

Campbell Wilson to stay on until successor is named as Air India navigates losses, fleet expansion, and restructuring amid heightened scrutiny following last year's crash

Air India is scouting for a successor to lead the airline after its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) Campbell Wilson formally resigned on Tuesday. 

 

The Air India Board has constituted a committee to find a successor to Wilson in the coming months. He will continue to remain as the airline’s chief until a successor is appointed, it said. 

 

His resignation comes at a time when the airline has come under scrutiny following the crash that killed 260 people in Ahmedabad last year.

 

Air India continues to post mounting losses even as it presses on with an ambitious fleet expansion, network growth and service overhaul.

   

Wilson had conveyed his intention to step down in 2026 to Air India Chairman N. Chandrasekaran in 2024, Air India said in a statement. 

 

“It is also worth acknowledging the numerous external challenges navigated by the Air India team, including prolonged post-Covid supply chain constraints that have impacted delivery of new aircraft and retrofit programs as well as major geopolitical and other headwinds,” Chandrasekaran said in the statement.

 

Since Wilson’s appointment in 2022, the airline underwent major changes. 

 

This included the merger of full-service airlines Air India and Vistara, following the merger of low-cost airlines Air India Express and AIX Connect (formerly Air Asia India) in 2024. 

 

“It has seen the complete modernisation of systems, the launch of new physical products, and deployment of elevated service standards on ground and in the air, as well as 100 additional aircraft added to the fleet. The full interior refit of legacy narrowbody aircraft has all-but been completed, with deliveries of widebody aircraft with new custom-designed interiors now underway,” Wilson said in a statement. 

 

Air India has a fleet of 191 planes and has placed orders for 570 aircraft. 

 

Orders for 470 aircraft, which included a mix of Airbus and Boeing jets, were placed in 2023, with the remaining placed in 2024. 

 

“With these foundational blocks now settling and a brief window until deliveries from the nearly 600-strong aircraft orderbook commence in earnest from 2027, the time is right for me to hand over the reins for the next phase of Air India’s rise,” he added. 

 

Air India’s budget airline Air India Express saw the exit of its MD and CEO Aloke Singh, who joined IndiGo as its chief strategy officer last month. 

 

Meanwhile, India’s largest airline IndiGo has also seen the resignation of its CEO, Pieter Elbers, after an operational meltdown four months ago led to the cancellation of thousands of flights. 

 

The airline appointed William Walsh, director general of International Air Transport Association (IATA), as its CEO.