Air India’s new owner, Tata Sons, said on Thursday it will select Campbell Wilson, the leader of Singapore Airlines’ (OTC: SINGY)‘ budget airline Scoot, as its chief executive, subject to regulatory clearances.
Wilson, who was born in New Zealand and is now 50 years old, will leave his current job on June 15.
Tata Sons finished taking over the Indian national airline, which was previously owned by the government, in January. Since then, it has been looking for an executive to run a large recovery plan.
Wilson’s appointment comes after Turkey’s Ilker Ayci opted to take up the post of chief executive of Air India following the news of his nomination, which led to controversy in India over his former political affiliations.
Tata Sons said in a statement that Air India’s board accepted the hiring of Wilson subject to relevant regulatory clearances.
Before a foreigner can be named CEO of an airline in India, the government needs to give its permission.
Leslie Thng, who is the senior vice president of sales and marketing at Singapore Airlines, will take Wilson’s place at Scoot.