Air India CEO says successor will have hands full

NEW YORK, May 21 (Reuters) – Air India Chief Executive Campbell Wilson said on Thursday that his successor will have his hands full as the airline grapples with neighboring Pakistan’s ban on using its airspace, the effects of the Iran war and the strong U.S. dollar.

Wilson said he would be leaving in a few months.

“The next four years will be just as challenging as the past, albeit in a different way,” Wilson said at a luncheon event at the Wings Club in New York. “And so whoever takes over will have their hands full, but I want to make sure the right person is there to take this forward.”

Reuters reported that Singapore Airlines executive Vinod Kannan and Air India chief commercial officer Nipun Aggarwal are frontrunners to become Air India’s new CEO.

Air India, which reported heavy losses, also faced a number of security issues.

Wilson said it was always clear that he would serve at Air India for four years, but he would take steps to help his successor.

“I will be flexible for as long as it takes for them to find someone and make sure we have a good transition,” Wilson said.

With a rapidly growing market, Air India aims to become a powerhouse in aviation.

However, the airline, which had an accident involving one of its 787 Dreamliner jets in June 2025, had to cancel thousands of flights due to the Iran war and the Pakistani airspace ban. Some of the lucrative international routes to North America have been canceled or reduced; Some existing flights take hours longer, creating additional costs due to high fuel prices.

“We can no longer fly over many parts of the Gulf, so we have to take a longer route. An eight-and-a-half hour flight from Delhi to London now takes 12 (hours),” he added.

A new CEO will need to focus on everything from tackling global business challenges in aviation, such as airspace closures and uncertain fuel prices, to specific tasks, such as growing the company and building relationships with staff.

“The foundation of the platform has been laid, but obviously once you get the planes here, you’ll start operating on a much larger scale very soon,” he told reporters after the event.

(Reporting by Doyinsola Oladipo in New York. Additional reporting by Abhijith Ganapavaram in New Delhi. Writing by Allison Lampert in Montreal; Editing by Mark Porter)