Campbell Wilson steps down as Air India Express Chairman; Nipun Aggarwal to take the lead
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This change is intended to bolster alignment across the Group’s commercial and network strategies. In addition, Captain Basil Kwauk, Chief Operations Officer of Air India, will join the Air India Express Board, reinforcing operational synergies between the airlines.
In a leadership reshuffle aimed at further integrating operations across the Air India Group, Campbell Wilson, CEO and Managing Director of Air India, has announced his decision to step down as Chairman of the Air India Express Board. This move comes as the group completes a crucial phase of structural transformation and pivots towards full operational optimisation.
“Over the past 18 months we completed many structural changes critical to transforming and rebuilding of the Air India Group, including merging our four airlines into two, consolidating our non-flying teams in Gurugram, and refreshing the leadership teams of both Air India and Air India Express. We've also worked hard to improve the communication, collaboration and coordination between our Full Service and Low-Cost airlines across all functions, for the benefit of each airline and the Group overall,” he shared in an official statement.
To support this next phase, Nipun Aggarwal, currently Air India’s Chief Commercial Officer and a member of the Air India Express board, will take over as Chairman of Air India Express. This change is intended to bolster alignment across the Group’s commercial and network strategies. “With this structural work largely complete, the task at hand now to fully leverage and optimise the Group fleet, network, sales, distribution and loyalty assets,” explained Wilson.
Aggarwal, before joining Air India, was senior Vice-President at Tata Sons, where he played a key role in transforming several Tata Group companies. He has also worked with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Standard Chartered Bank, and BP PLC.
In addition to Aggarwal taking the new position, Captain Basil Kwauk, Chief Operations Officer of Air India, will join the Air India Express Board—subject to regulatory approvals—further reinforcing operational synergies between the airlines.
“I will obviously remain keenly interested in Air India Express's progress and success, fully support Nipun and Basil in their additional roles, and remain responsible for the overall performance of the Air India Group,” shared Wilson.