Tata appoints Campbell Wilson as Air India MD & CEO

Tata Sons on Thursday appointed Campbell Wilson as the new chief executive officer and managing director of Air India.

The Air India board approved the appointment of Wilson subject to requisite regulatory approvals.

Wilson, 50, is currently the CEO of budget carrier Scoot, the wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore Airlines. He has 26 years of aviation industry experience across both full service and low-cost airlines.

"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," says N Chandrasekaran, chairman, Air India.

Wilson started off as a management trainee with Singapore Airlines in New Zealand in 1996. He then worked for the airline in Canada, Hong Kong and Japan before returning to Singapore in 2011 as the founding CEO of Scoot, which he led until 2016.

He then served as the senior vice president (sales and marketing) of SIA, where he oversaw pricing, distribution, e-commerce, merchandising, brand and marketing, global sales and the airline’s overseas offices, before returning for a second stint as the CEO of Scoot in April 2020.

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

"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," says Wilson.

In March, former Turkish Airlines chairman Ilker Ayci turned down the offer to become Air India MD & CEO amid a probe by the ministry of home affairs over his alleged links with Al-Qaeda.

The union government sold its entire stake in Air India to Talace, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons. The sale marked the national carrier’s return to the salt-to-software conglomerate after a span of 69 years.

Fortune India last month reported that Air India has offered to acquire the entire equity share capital of AirAsia India - a joint venture between Tata Sons and AirAsia Group, where the former owns 83.67% stake while the latter has the remaining 16.33% stake.