Air India CEO Campbell Wilson Resigns as Budget Unit Air India Express Reports ₹500 Crore Loss

(INDIA) — Air India Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Campbell Wilson has not resigned, even as reports in early 2026 indicate Tata Group is exploring a replacement before his contract ends in June 2027 amid operational challenges, safety issues and financial losses.

No official resignation or appointment has been confirmed. Wilson remains in charge of the airline, which Tata Group reacquired in January 2022 and placed under his leadership in July 2022.

The scrutiny around Wilson’s position has grown as Tata Group, led by Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran, weighs the pace of Air India’s turnaround against a series of setbacks. Discussions have been held with CEOs from at least two UK- and US-based airlines.

That focus follows leadership changes already made inside the group in April 2025. On April 22, 2025, Wilson stepped down as Chairman of Air India Express and left its board entirely, while keeping responsibility for the wider Air India Group.

Air India Chief Commercial Officer Nipun Aggarwal became chairman of Air India Express in a move aimed at improving network coordination. Capt. Basil Kwauk, Air India Chief Operations Officer, joined the board pending approvals for operational synergy.

Those changes did not alter Wilson’s standing at the parent airline. He continued as Air India CEO and Managing Director while the group adjusted roles across its low-cost unit and core operations.

The leadership questions now surfacing reflect a broader review of performance at a carrier that has posted some gains but remains under pressure on several fronts. Air India has completed the Vistara integration and surpassed IndiGo on some routes, but it still faces problems tied to wide-body aircraft and service quality.

Operational goals have also weighed on the review. Air India missed operational breakeven targets, adding to concerns about whether the turnaround is moving fast enough under the current management team.

A June 2025 crash in Ahmedabad intensified that pressure. The fatal crash of AI71 killed 260 people and raised fresh questions about crisis management at a time when the airline was already trying to reshape its operations after returning to Tata control.

Regulatory scrutiny added another layer. The airline faced scrutiny over lapses that included engine part delays, missing emergency checks and crew fatigue.

Outside factors have also hurt performance. Supply chain delays affected aircraft deliveries and on-time performance, while the closure of Pakistan airspace raised costs.

The financial picture has sharpened attention on the carrier’s top leadership. Air India and Air India Express reported Rs 10,859 crore loss on Rs 78,636 crore revenue in FY25, ending March 2025.

The group is also projected to post an INR 150 billion ($1.6 billion) loss in the current fiscal year. That figure has become one of the clearest markers of the gap between the airline’s revival plans and its present condition.

Tata’s review is not confined to the full-service carrier. Similar reviews are under way at Air India Express for CEO Aloke Singh, whose term ends 2027.

That parallel assessment suggests the group is looking at leadership and execution across its airline businesses rather than treating the questions around Wilson in isolation. Air India Express has become an important part of Tata’s effort to align fleet, network and commercial strategy across the group.

Wilson’s move away from the Air India Express chairmanship in April 2025 fit into that wider restructuring. Nipun Aggarwal’s appointment placed a senior commercial executive at the head of the subsidiary’s board, while Kwauk’s addition signaled an effort to strengthen operating links between the airlines.

Even so, the central question remains unchanged: Wilson has not stepped down from the top job at Air India. Reports of a leadership search point to dissatisfaction and contingency planning, not to an announced exit.

His current term still runs to mid-2027 unless Tata changes it earlier. As of the latest reports, that has not happened.

The gap between formal status and internal dissatisfaction is what makes the situation unusual. On paper, Wilson remains the executive charged with leading Air India through one of the most ambitious turnarounds in Indian aviation, while behind the scenes the group has been examining alternatives.

That tension comes after nearly four years of change since Tata took back the airline in January 2022. Wilson, brought in later that year, was tasked with helping restore a once-iconic carrier that had suffered years of decline under state ownership.

The mandate was wide. He inherited a business that needed fleet renewal, network rebuilding, service improvements and better integration across the group’s different brands.

Some of those efforts produced visible progress. The Vistara integration marked a large step in Tata’s attempt to simplify its aviation holdings, and Air India’s ability to move ahead of IndiGo on some routes offered evidence that the airline could still compete in selected markets.

Yet the setbacks have been hard to ignore. Wide-body aircraft issues have limited parts of the long-haul operation, and service quality has remained an area of concern even as the carrier has tried to present itself as a revived premium brand.

Those operational strains matter because Air India’s turnaround depends not only on strategy but also on daily reliability. Delays in aircraft deliveries can disrupt expansion plans, while weak on-time performance can compound customer complaints and strain schedules across the network.

The Pakistan airspace closure added another burden by pushing up costs. In a business already dealing with losses and fleet constraints, higher operating expenses can quickly feed into wider doubts about whether targets remain realistic.

The Ahmedabad crash of AI71 in June 2025 made the challenge still harder. Beyond the immediate loss of 260 lives, the accident put management decisions and crisis response under closer examination.

That examination has unfolded alongside the regulatory issues over engine part delays, missing emergency checks and crew fatigue. Taken together, those concerns have fed the view that operational discipline needs improvement even as the airline pursues growth.

Tata’s outreach to CEOs from at least two UK- and US-based airlines indicates the group has looked beyond the Indian market for possible successors. No appointment has been announced, but the cross-border nature of those discussions shows the search has been serious enough to extend to experienced airline leaders overseas.

At the same time, the absence of any formal change leaves Wilson in place. He remains the face of the turnaround and the executive responsible for its results.

That continuity may matter inside the group as Air India tries to push through a long list of projects at once. Fleet plans, network coordination, service upgrades and the integration of different operating units all require management stability, even when investors or owners grow impatient.

Still, the reported dissatisfaction from Tata Group signals that patience has limits. Missed breakeven targets and heavy losses have made it harder to argue that time alone will solve the carrier’s problems.

The numbers are stark. A Rs 10,859 crore loss on Rs 78,636 crore revenue in FY25, followed by a projected INR 150 billion ($1.6 billion) loss in the current fiscal year, leaves little room for a narrative built only on future promise.

That financial pressure also helps explain why Air India Express has come into sharper focus. The low-cost airline is central to the group’s broader network and cost strategy, and leadership changes there carry implications for the entire operation.

Aggarwal’s new role as chairman of Air India Express therefore matters beyond a board title. As Air India’s commercial chief, he sits close to decisions on routes, network planning and traffic flows that shape the performance of both carriers.

Kwauk’s addition to the board, pending approvals, points in the same direction. It ties operating oversight more closely to the subsidiary at a time when the group is trying to extract more coordination from shared assets and planning.

Neither Wilson, Air India, Tata Group nor Singapore Airlines responded to queries. That leaves the public position unchanged even as questions continue about whether Tata will stay with the current leadership or make a move before June 2027.

For now, the clearest fact is also the simplest one: Campbell Wilson remains Air India CEO, while Tata weighs whether the turnaround he was hired to deliver is moving fast enough.