Air India CEO Campbell Wilson spoke publicly for the first time Wednesday about the June crash of AI171, an incident that has the airline under increased scrutiny.
On June 12, 2025, an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed just moments after takeoff from Ahmedabad, killing 260 people and becoming the deadliest airplane crash in ten years. Preliminary reports suggest the fuel switches were turned to CUTOFF a few seconds after takeoff, leading to a loss of thrust and the ultimate crash of the aircraft.
Air India CEO Speaks Out
Wilson spoke Wednesday at the Aviation India and South Asia Summit & Exhibition in New Delhi. During his remarks, he described the June accident as ‘devastating’ and said the airline is doing everything it can to support those who have been affected by the tragedy. He also noted that the interim accident report found no fault in the aircraft or its engines, according to the Economic Times.
Roughly a month after the accident, Wilson pleaded with the public to forgo jumping to conclusions regarding the cause of the crash. This came as Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, warned that the Air India 171 crash reports were ‘speculative’ and ‘premature,’ adding that ‘investigations of this magnitude take time.’
According to a report from the Times of India, Wilson noted during his remarks that the preliminary report found ‘nothing wrong’ with the airline’s operations or practices. He also said:
“Anything that happens in the industry, whether that’s us or others, is a cause for introspection. It is a cause for reviewing practices… The interim report indicated that there was nothing with aircraft engines or practices that required changing. But of course, we’re always looking at how we can keep improving, keep learning.”
Air India Flight 171 Recap
Air India Flight 171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, crashed on takeoff from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (AMD) on June 12, 2025. The flight was bound for 
London Gatwick Airport (LGW) in the United Kingdom. All 12 crew members and 229 of the 230 passengers on board were killed, as were 19 people on the ground.
The Air India crash marked the first hull loss of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner since the aircraft entered commercial service in 2011. India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is leading the investigation into what became the world’s deadliest aviation disaster in a decade. The initial report found that both engine fuel control switches were moved to CUTOFF approximately three seconds after takeoff, leading to the shutdown of both engines on the 11-year-old aircraft.
On the cockpit voice recorder, the pilots can be heard questioning each other about the switch movement. One asked the other why it had been switched to CUTOFF, and the other responded that he hadn’t touched it. The switches were turned back to RUN about ten seconds after takeoff, and were in that position when they were later recovered from the wreckage. The crash remains under investigation.
Who Is Campbell Wilson?
Campbell Wilson has served as CEO and Managing Director of Air India since July 2022. Prior to that, he was CEO of Scoot, the low-cost subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, a role he held since the airline’s inception in 2011. He’s been in the aviation industry for nearly 30 years, having started his career in 1996 with Singapore Airlines in his home country of New Zealand.
As CEO of Air India, Wilson is leading the airline’s five-year transformation plan, called Vihaan.AI, which signifies the dawn of a new era in Sanskrit. Since launching the plan in 2022, the airline has added dozens of new routes, invested millions in upgrading its IT systems, and placed a historic order for 470 aircraft, which at the time was the largest in aviation history.
Despite the airline’s growth, it’s clear that Wilson has a lot of work ahead of him. In July, India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) performed an audit that found more than 50 safety violations at Air India over the course of the last year. But as Air India works to transform itself into a ‘world-class airline with an Indian heart,’ Wilson reiterated Wednesday, according to the Economic Times report, that the airline is committed to learning from the final AI171 report once it is released.
