Air India Turnaround is Entering Its Final Phase, CEO Says
Photo Credit: Air India CEO Campbell Wilson speaking at Skift Forum India on March 18, 2025. Skift
Skift Take
Air India’s long-awaited turnaround has been slowed by supply chain delays, but CEO Campbell Wilson tells Skift that the structural overhaul is largely complete.
At the recent inauguration of Air India’s new Maharaja Lounge at its Delhi hub, Campbell Wilson used a distinctly South Asian metaphor to describe where the airline stands in its ambitious transformation.
“We’re maybe in the morning session, on the fifth day,” said the CEO, likening Air India’s overhaul to the closing stretch of a five-day cricket test match. He has maintained the parallels between the turnaround plan and cricket over the years he has led Air India.
The analogy is revealing: The match isn’t over. The outcome isn’t guaranteed. But the decisive structural moves, Wilson argues, have already been made.
Air India’s Vihaan.AI program – launched after the Tata Group reacquired the airline in 2022 – was always intended as a structural overhaul. Wilson said much of the first four years focused on foundational work – systems, processes, facilities, training, procurement, and certification.
“A lot of that is invi
