Campbell Wilson News

Dear reader, as 2025, a year of global tumult and volatility, rolled by, Mint's reporters and columnists looked around the corner on what is coming in 2026—to help you know what to expect and prepare for it. Tell us what you think at [email protected]: The past 12 months have likely been the most challenging yet for the chief executive officers (CEOs) of India’s two largest airlines, IndiGo and Air India, which together control about 91% of the country’s aviation market.In September 2022, Tata Sons appointed Campbell Wilson as CEO of Air India to revive the debt-laden carrier it had acquired from the government earlier that year, under a five-year phased transformation plan.

NEW DELHI : New Delhi: Demand for air travel is taking off globally, but there aren’t enough planes to carry all the people who want to fly with the aviation sector yet to recover from covid and the repercussions of the Russia-Ukraine war. Not enough parts are available to manufacture planes because of a persistent supply chain bottleneck, forcing several airlines to lease jets instead, often at higher prices. There’s a scramble even for those leased planes.

India is a major aviation market, and a stronger partnership between Air India and Lufthansa is beneficial, Star Alliance CEO Theo Panagiotoulias said. According to him, the association aims to unite its partners to provide unique value to passengers. Both Air India and Lufthansa are members of the Star Alliance, which includes 26 member airlines collaborating at over 50 global hubs to offer seamless connections worldwide. “We need to ensure that the right value proposition is there in India, which is a significant market,” Panagiotoulias added.

Bengaluru becoming the fifth Indian city to be connected to the UK's second-largest airport, Air India has announced that it will start non-stop services between Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport and London Gatwick (LGW), starting August 18 this year.

Air India is on track to finalize its merger with Vistara by the end of this year, with plans to commence the integration of over 7,000 employees starting in June, as reported by The Indian Express.

Air India employees, CEO Campbell Wilson expressed gratitude for their hard work and dedication, which he credited for the airline's progress over the past year. He also announced that the annual appraisal cycle is currently underway and will be retroactively effective from April 1. «The end of the Financial Year also caps off the annual appraisal cycle which has been underway for some time, as well as allows us to tally our annual financial results,» he added in the first 'Friday Message' of 2024-25 to employees. «Please bear with us whilst this important but necessary process runs its course.» Wilson highlighted Air India's ambition to become «a world-class, global airline with an Indian heart,» noting the accelerated progress of its Vihaan.AI initiative. He also mentioned the successful onboarding of the first batch of cadet pilots, who are set to begin ground training in the US. Additionally, he acknowledged the cabin crew for clearing the backlog of training batches, leading to the addition of the 4,000th crew member since privatization.

₹80,000 and ₹1,40,000. Vistara's sticky wage problem holds lessons for the Tata Group However, Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan claimed that the pilot shortage triggered as they reached their flight duty time limit. Kannan said the management will revise the roster to take pressure off the pilots from May onwards.

on April 2, as per an NDTV report. Further, PTI has quoted sources saying that as many as 70 flights could be cancelled on April 2 (today). Since April 1, the airline has cancelled more than 50 flights and delayed at least 160 more.

Air India has seen a cultural transformation after its takeover by the Tata Group, triggered by infusion of new employees and training, managing director Campbell Wilson said. The takeover of the airline has seen Air India hire new employees and part with some of the older staff. The average age of employees has come down to 34 years from 54 after its privatisation, Wilson said at the Skift India Summit 2024 on Wednesday. «There had been no recruitment in non-flying staff for the last 15 years (before the acquisition in 2022). We have been able to recruit a whole bunch of people not only for necessity but also for their competency and bring down the average age of employees,» he said.

Campbell Wilson, CEO, Air India, says “this is the beginning of a new fleet, new on-board products, new entertainment systems. This is the first A350; but as we get the other six and then start refitting all of our existing wide-body aircraft, people will see it more frequently.” On Air India getting the first A350 in its fleet Campbell Wilson: Well this reveal of the new Air India is a fresh start. This is our first A350, Airbus’s most modern jetliner. It is Air India’s first new aircraft with the new liveries, the new interiors, the new colour scheme and new amenities, new inflight entertainment system and it signals the next phase of their transformation.

Air India on Wednesday announced the appointment of P Balaji as the Group Head for Governance, Regulatory, Compliance (GRC) and Corporate Affairs. Balaji, who will join the newly-created position at Air India on January 11, earlier served a nearly decade-long stint at Vodafone Idea, where he spearheaded the regulatory and public policy functions, the airline said.

Air India pilots unions have raised concern against the alleged threat that the airline has given the cockpit staff if they report sick for duty. 

Air India on Sunday expressed «concern» over the Tata Group-owned airline's alleged threat to the cockpit staff with «appropriate measures» if pilots report sick for duty. In a communication to Air India senior vice president for flight operations Manish Uppal on Sunday, Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) and Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) said that reporting illnesses without the «fear of reprisal» is in the interest of flight safety.

Air India received India's first ever Airbus A350, registered as VT-JRA as it continues its transformation, the company said in a media statement on Saturday. The aircraft will commence commercial service in January 2024 and will initially operate domestically for crew familiarisation, it said. Later on, services will be offered for longer-haul destinations. The carrier will announce the schedule for commercial operations with the A350 in the coming weeks. «This moment marks a red-letter day for all of us at Air India. The A350 is not just metal and engines; it’s the flying embodiment of the relentless efforts of all Air India employees towards our airline’s continuing transformation and of our commitment to setting new benchmarks. It is also, in many ways, a declaration of Indian aviation’s resurgence on the world stage,» said Campbell Wilson, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, Air India in the statement.

Air India completes two years under the Tata group’s ownership, its CEO Campbell Wilson has found that his job is mostly a balance between fighting the airline’s existing legacy issues and exploiting its tremendous future potential. In a recent interview, Wilson spoke to ET about the progress Air India is making in its long, arduous journey to regaining its long-lost status as a globally relevant airline. Edited excerpts: Q1) Let’s start with Air India’s transformation project. The first phase was taxi, which was focussed on legacy issues. The airline is six months into the next phase which is called takeoff, which is focused on developing the platforms, processes and systems needed to build a product of exellence. Where is Air India at right now and how do the next 100 days look like? Ans: We have a five-year roadmap called Vihaan, which has three phases.

Air India is in talks with aerospace majors, including L3Harris and Airbus, as potential partners for its big crew training facility and will be disclosing more details in January, CEO and MD Campbell Wilson said in a recent interview. People in the know said the companies will likely be making strategic investments in the $200-million facility. «We are partnering with a couple of OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) to set up simulator training centres: Airbus, Boeing L3Harris. We will be talking a little more about that in January,» said Wilson. He didn't elaborate on the nature of the partnership of investment from partners. L3Harris, formed in 2019 by the merger of American companies L3 Technologies and Harris Corp, has business interests in segments including aerospace communications, integrated mission systems, space and airborne systems. The training centre would be critical for training pilots to fly the large number of planes the airline will receive over the next five years, starting December.

Air India and reflects the airline's commitment to offering a modern and visually appealing experience for passengers. The Tata Group-owned airline has ordered six A350-900 planes and five of them are scheduled for delivery through March 2024. On September 29, Air India said it has completed the acquisition of its first A350-900 aircraft by way of a finance lease transaction with HSBC through the GIFT City.

Air India on Friday announced that it plans to induct over 30 new planes and operate routes to four new international destinations over the next six months. The Tata-owned airline expects to expand routes to North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia, while also adding more than 400 weekly flights to its domestic and international route network until March 2024, as part of the winter schedule, effective from October 29 to March 30 next year. «Between now and March 2024, Air India expects to induct over 30 wide body and narrow body aircraft to its fleet, including six A350s, four B777s and 20 A320 neos,» it said in a release. The airline expects to receive deliveries of new aircraft over the next six months, which is the impetus for its route expansion.

New Delhi: The chief executives of Air India and Akasa Air have privately exchanged barbs over the poaching of pilots, with the latter accusing its bigger rival of rule violations, provoking a reply that collusion to curb job switching can breach competition law. The exchange, detailed in a Sept. 21 letter seen by Reuters, spotlights growing competition in India's aviation market, as a strong rebound in air travel after the pandemic, coupled with a flurry of orders for new aircraft, lead to a shortage of pilots.

Air India said in a social media post on X. After being fully acquired by Tata Sons in January 2022, Air India underwent this rebranding.

Air India on Friday announced that it has commissioned a mega warehouse facility in Delhi to facilitate storage of over 1,000,000 engineering spares that are integral to maintenance, checks and repairs of its aircraft and ground support equipment. The airline said the move will further enhance Air India’s fleet and operational efficiency and strengthen India’s expanding aviation ecosystem. Located in the proximity of Terminal 3, at the Cargo complex of Delhi Airport’s Air Cargo Logistics division, the centralized warehouse sprawling 54,000 sq. ft.