# Air India CEO Campbell Wilson says his successor will have his or her "hands full" Wilson said he would leave in a couple of months' time.

*aerospace · news · 2026-05-22 · Business Standard*

## Key points

- Air India's CEO Campbell Wilson confirmed he is leaving within a couple of months.
- Singapore Airlines' Vinod Kannan and Air India's Nipun Aggarwal are frontrunners for the CEO role.
- Air India has suffered heavy losses due to Pakistan airspace ban and fallout from the Iran war.
- A 2025 crash involving a 787 Dreamliner killed hundreds and intensified operational challenges.
- Fuel now makes up double the previous 34% of Air India's operating costs due to rerouted flights.

Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said on Thursday that his successor will have his or her "hands full," as the carrier grapples with a ban ​on the usage of neighbor Pakistan's airspace, fallout from the Iran war ​and a strong US dollar. Wilson said he would leave in a couple of months' time. "The ‌next four years is going to be just as challenging as the past, albeit in a different way," Wilson told a lunch event at Wings Club in New York. "And so the person that takes over will have their hands full, but I want to make sure the right person is in place to carry that forward." Reuters has reported that Singapore Airlines executive Vinod Kannan and Air India's commercial head Nipun Aggarwal are the two frontrunners to become the new CEO of Air India. Air India, which has reported heavy losses, has also faced a series of safety lapses. Wilson said it was always clear that he would hold a four-year term at Air India, but would ‌take steps to help his successor. "I'm going to be flexible for as long as it takes for them to find someone and make sure that we do a good transition," Wilson said. With a fast-growing market, Air India has ambitions to become an aviation powerhouse. But the carrier, which had a crash involving one of its 787 Dreamliner jets in June 2025 that left hundreds dead, has also been forced to cancel thousands of flights due to the Iran war and the Pakistan airspace ban. Some of ​its lucrative international routes to North America have been cancelled or scaled back, while some existing flights take ‌hours longer, creating added costs due to high fuel prices. "We now can't fly over many parts of the Gulf, so we have to take an even longer routing. An eight-and-a-half-hour flight from ​Delhi to ‌London now takes 12 (hours)," he added. The cost of fuel has doubled from 34 per cent of the carrier's cost before the ‌war, Wilson said. A new CEO would need to focus on everything from navigating global business challenges in aviation, such as airspace closures and uncertain fuel prices, along with specific tasks like growing ‌the ​company and building relationships ​with staff. "The platform has been laid, but obviously when you bring aircraft in, you're going to be operating in a much greater scale quite soon," he told reporters after ‌the event.

**Companies:** Air India, Singapore Airlines
**Countries:** India, Pakistan, United States, Iran

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