Air India Looks to Replace CEO Campbell Wilson as Safety Concerns Mount After June Crash

According to The Economic Times, Tata Sons has started considering a potential leadership transition at its airline division; therefore, Air India might soon have a new CEO. According to the report, the group has discussed its top management structure with senior executives from major international airlines. According to those cited in the article, group chairman N Chandrasekaran has had conversations with the CEOs of at least two major airlines with headquarters in the US and the UK.

According to reports, these talks are a part of a larger effort to find potential replacements for Campbell Wilson, the current CEO of Air India. According to sources cited by the Economic Times, Chandrasekaran, the chairman of Air India, is dissatisfied with the airline's execution pace and on-the-ground reforms. According to the source, Wilson's current tenure ends in June 2027, although the airline may have a leadership transition before then.

Air India Express to Follow Similar Path

Similar evaluations are being conducted at Air India Express. According to the Economic Times, Tata Sons is evaluating the leadership requirements for each of its aviation operations, as the term of its CEO, Aloke Singh, is also scheduled to expire in 2027. According to people with knowledge of the conversations, Chandrasekaran and Wilson have been meeting frequently lately for performance reviews. Regarding the issue, Tata Sons chose not to comment.

Wilson is involved in the succession planning process and has advised the board that he might not stay past 2027, a person close to Wilson told the Economic Times. Group executives refuted this, claiming that the review is being led directly by the group chairman and that no such board-level conversation has occurred.

Ongoing Challenges of Air India

Service quality and timely performance have been impacted by aircraft delivery delays and the refurbishing of ageing aircraft, particularly on long-haul flights to North America and Europe. Wide-body aircraft have also frequently experienced technical problems for Air India. Since the Ahmedabad tragedy last year, which claimed 260 lives, Air India has also been closely monitored.

According to the Economic Times, senior government officials decided to speak with Tata Group's top leadership directly rather than Wilson following the disaster, even though an initial investigation found no flaws in the aircraft or Air India's technical procedures. It is believed that this incident has affected Wilson's standing. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has also issued show-cause warnings to Wilson and other top management of the airline for alleged infractions and non-compliance.

As per the report, one instance included flying an aircraft whose licence had expired. In FY25, Air India and Air India Express combined reported a loss of INR 10,859 crore on INR 78,636 crore in sales. As a result, they became the Tata Group's largest loss-making businesses. Since Air India joined the Tata group, consolidation, integration, and brand resurrection have mostly been finished, and Chandrasekaran is now focusing on the next stage of expansion.