What does it really take to rebuild an airline like Air India?
In Episode 1 of this exclusive Mashable India x Air India series, host Siddharth Alambayan sits down with Air India CEO Campbell Wilson to uncover the massive transformation happening behind the scenes.
From outdated systems and operational challenges to new aircraft, upgraded cabins, AI-powered technology, and Air India’s ambitious strategy, this episode explores how the Tata Group is rebuilding Air India into a world-class global airline.
Featuring:
Air India’s transformation journey
Tata Group’s vision for the airline
Airbus...
What Campbell Wilson said
Written from the verified transcript and checked against it. Every figure links to the moment it was said.
Campbell Wilson, CEO of Air India, discussed the airline's transformation since Tata Group's takeover in 2022. He described inheriting a 92-year-old legacy airline with decrepit facilities, including a snake-infested training center and monkeys in the head office, and outdated technology like Gmail for internal communication. Wilson said the turnaround will take five to seven years, with most heavy lifting done but a long tail remaining, such as reconfiguring legacy widebody aircraft. He detailed the scale of investment: 600 new aircraft ordered, representing $70-80 billion at list price, plus over $400 million for seats and interiors, and hundreds of millions for IT and training infrastructure. Wilson acknowledged the airline is not yet world-class in every aspect but cited award-winning app, strong NPS on A350s serving New York and London, and four-star rating as progress. He committed to a world-class standard by 2028, with new lounges in Delhi and San Francisco.
Key takeaways
Air India's transformation will take five to seven years, with most heavy lifting done but a long tail remaining, including legacy widebody reconfiguration.
Air India has increased its aircraft order from 470 to 600 new aircraft, with first deliveries from the 2022 order arriving in 2026.
Fleet modernization and interiors represent a $70-80 billion investment at list price, plus over $400 million for existing aircraft seats and interiors.
The training academy in South Asia is the largest, with 2,200 people passing through daily for safety, service, and capability training.
Wilson aims for world-class status by 2028, with new lounges opening in Delhi and San Francisco, and a four-star rating already achieved.
A very proud history but a very mixed history as well. There were monkeys in the air and dear head office in Conor place. The crew training center in Mumbai was infested with snakes. By 2028, we'll be a world class airline.
Aircrafts million dollar tech upgrades a 5-year plan to go from struggling to world class but can Air India actually pull it off? Mammoth aviation transformation cover let's kick it off with the conversation with the CEO of Air India Mr. Campbell Wilson.
Nice to see you, too. You didn't inherit a startup. You got a legacy brand. I mean, it's a mammoth of an airline that we've loved. I've grown up looking at. How is it working around from that day to where we've come?
It's certainly been an incredibly busy four years. Yes. This last four years has been focused on the turnaround of a 92-year-old legacy airline that carried a very famous name, a very proud history, but a very mixed history as well. Periods in which it was amongst the best in the world and periods in which it was clearly very not.
It's been a journey that's involved at current times about 25,500 people and I think over the last four years there's been significant progress with more to come.
Well, Air India had been challenged for cash for some decades and that was reflected across the organization. For example, many of the premises that the organization was operating from were quite decrepit. The crew training center in Mumbai was infested with snakes.
There were monkeys in the air and dear head office in Conor place. There's also because it was a public sector company, there wasn't the performance management practices of a private organization. Technology hadn't been upgraded. So most people to the extent they used email were using Gmail because the company email system was so bad. And so that was the organization that we inherited in 2022. When I was first employed, I was asked how long it would take and I said it'll take 5 to seven years.
I think the reality is that it will take 5 to seven years. Most of the heavy lifting has been done now but there is a long tail of things that need to be completed such as the reconfiguration of some of the legacy widebody aircraft which is contingent on seat supply and certification. That process has started.
You but you're doing all of this while also being in operation. While being in operation, while doing a complete transfusion of systems and process and culture and people, we also merged four airlines into two. During this same period, we took delivery of more than 100 new aircraft into the fleet. Complete rebranding, uplifting of product, uplifting of service levels, uplifting of training, building a training academy, building a flight simulator center, building a flying skill, building a maintenance and repair base. There's been many many balls being juggled in the air.
Could you explain to us why it takes so long? Because we thought as soon as the Tata Group took over, it will be immediate. But what are the kind of hurdles that you'll have faced?
20 more exchanges in this transcript
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Wilson, C. (2026, May 27). Air India Goes All-In On The Transformation | CEO Campbell Wilson [Interview transcript]. Mashable India. CEOInterviews.AI. https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1052368/
MLA
Campbell Wilson. "Air India Goes All-In On The Transformation | CEO Campbell Wilson." Mashable India, 27 May. 2026. Transcript, CEOInterviews.AI, https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1052368/.
BibTeX
@misc{wilson2026_1052368,
author = {Campbell Wilson},
title = {Air India Goes All-In On The Transformation | CEO Campbell Wilson},
howpublished = {Interview transcript, Mashable India. CEOInterviews.AI},
year = {2026},
month = {may},
url = {https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1052368/},
note = {Speaker-attributed transcript with timestamps}
}
