MUMBAI, May 12 (PTI): Tata Sons on Thursday announced the appointment of Campbell Wilson as the managing director and chief executive officer of Air India.
Wilson is currently the chief executive officer of Singapore Airlines’ wholly-owned subsidiary Scoot Air. Singapore Airlines (SIA) is a joint venture partner of Tata Group in full-service carrier Vistara.
After taking over loss-making Air India on January 27, Tatas, in February, had named Turkish Airlines’ former chairman Ilker Ayci as the carrier’s MD and CEO.
However, Ayci, who was to take over on April 1, declined to join the group amid concerns expressed over his appointment in certain quarters.
“The Air India board approved the appointment of Wilson subject to requisite regulatory approvals,” Tata Sons said in a statement on Thursday.
An aviation industry veteran with over 26 years of experience, Wilson has expertise across both full service and low-cost airlines, it added.
“I am delighted to welcome Campbell to Air India. He is an industry veteran having worked in key global markets cutting across multiple functions,” N Chandrasekaran, chairman of Air India, said.
Further, he said that Air India would benefit from his added experience of having built an airline brand in Asia.
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, as per the release.
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.
“It is an honour to be selected to lead the iconic Air India and be a part of the highly respected Tata Group,” Wilson said.
According to him, 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.
After a competitive bidding process, the government in October last year sold Air India to Talace Private Limited, a subsidiary of Tata Sons for Rs 18,000 crore.
Air India was started by the Tata Group in 1932. However, after the country got independence, it was nationalised in 1953.
