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Scoot CEO Campbell Wilson appointed as new head of Air India

Scoot is the budget arm of SIA, which is a partner in Tata’s Vistara
Last Updated 12 May 2022, 17:21 IST

Tata Sons has named Campbell Wilson, the head of Singapore Airlines' (SIA) budget carrier Scoot, as the new chief executive and managing director of Air India.

The appointment came about four months after the salt-to-software conglomerate took full control of the national carrier. Tata’s original pick for the job turned it down amid political opposition and media coverage tied to his links with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Wilson, 50, started his aviation career as a management trainee with SIA in New Zealand in 1996. He 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 SIA’s senior vice president of sales and marketing, before taking up a second stint as Scoot CEO in April 2020. SIA is a partner in Vistara, an airline owned by Tata Sons

Analysts said Wilson had his work cut out for him.

“The working and reporting culture in India is significantly different from Singapore and as such, handling the workforce and culture at Air India would be a challenging task for the new CEO,” said Rohit Tomar, managing partner at consulting firm Caladrius Aero Consulting LLP.

Wilson faces the mammoth task of turning around a debt-laden airline, with old aircraft, a huge workforce and falling market share. He will also have to help the Tatas revive and streamline its aviation assets, which include three unprofitable carriers. Last month, Tata Sons moved four Air India executives who held board positions to senior management roles, and filled a few key positions in its C-suite.

While Air India still controls prime slots at airports in India and abroad, Wilson will have to find ways to help the airline focus on regaining a global foothold and take control of markets where it lost out to Middle Eastern airlines.

Wilson’s appointment has the Air India board’s blessing, but is yet to get regulatory approval.

“He will need some amount of learning about India and some amount of unlearning as well to run Air India,” said Mark Martin, chief executive at aviation consultancy Martin Consulting LLC.

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(Published 12 May 2022, 09:58 IST)

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