India, April 13 -- Campbell Wilson's recent resignation as Air India chief executive officer (CEO) can be seen as an admission of the failure to turn the airline around. After buying the airline from the government in 2022, the Tatas had staked its turnaround on Wilson's abilities but now the airline faces serious losses. And lest one forgets, Air India is still trying to recover from the devastating Ahmedabad crash last year.

Several civil aviation veterans and experts, including former chairman-managing directors (CMDs) of the airline, are now asking why Campbell's exit - he was appointed in July 2022 - didn't come sooner, given that, within months of his taking charge, a view emerged that he might not be up to the task.

Air India is ...