BackTata Sons taps aviation veteran Campbell Wilson to lead Air India
Wilson, 50, has 26 years aviation industry expertise across both full service and low-cost airlines.
PremiumCampbell Wilson, the previous head of low-cost airline Scoot, has been appointed as the new chief executive officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) of Air India, an official statement said Thursday.
Wilson, 50, has resigned as chief of Scoot to take the top job at Air India.
He has 26 years aviation industry expertise across both full service and low-cost airlines. He is the chief executive of Scoot, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines.
Wilson's appointment comes after Turkey's Ilker Ayci decided not take on the role of chief executive of Air India after the announcement of his appointment led to opposition in India over his previous political links.
Commenting on the appointment, N Chandrasekaran said, "I am glad 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," he said.
The Tata Group took control of Air India on 27 January, after successfully winning the bid for the airline on 8 October last year.
"It is an honour to be selected to lead the iconic Air India and be part of the highly respected Tata Group. 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," Campbell Wilson said.
Recently, Tata Sons has effected a major reshuffle in the top management of Air India, with Nipun Aggarwal appointed as Chief Commercial Officer and Suresh Dutt Tripathi as Chief Human Resources Officer.
Aggarwal, who is also Senior Vice President at Tata Sons, replaced Air India veteran Meenakshi Malik, while Tripathi, who was Vice President of Human Resources at Tata Steel from 2012 to 2021, succeeded AI's Amrita Sharan.
Wilson will be replaced at Scoot by Leslie Thng, the current senior vice president, sales and marketing, at Singapore Airlines.
Brief Profile
Wilson started off as a Management Trainee with Singapore Airlines (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.
Wilson then served as the Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing of SIA, where he oversaw Pricing, Distribution, eCommerce, Merchandising, Brand & Marketing, Global Sales and the airline’s overseas offices, before returning for a second stint as the CEO of Scoot in April 2020.
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