It's your captain speaking

As the airline prepares for takeoff in a new avatar, Campbell gives NIVEDITA MOOKERJI & DEEPAK PATEL a view from the cockpit

- 

We are to meet Campbell Wilson, CEO and MD of Air India, at a Taj hotel in New Delhi over lunch, but there's a change in venue. Wilson has back-to-back meetings at his Gurugram headquarters, so we travel the extra mile(s) and meet at threesixtyone at The Oberoi, a competitor to Tata group's Taj chain.

During our conversation over an extended lunch that follows, the Air India boss mentions the Tatas often. He draws our attention to the mega reset that's been in the works at the airline over the two years since the government sold its 100 per cent stake in it to the salt-to-software conglomerate. We are seated on the deck facing the pool. It's a pleasant winter afternoon and we order our meal while talking about mountains, seas and beaches.

Campbell, as he prefers being called, tells us that he usually skips lunch since "I'm able to squeeze in two more meetings in that time". This lunch is an exception and he's dressed for it in a maroon bandhgala jacket paired with a white shirt. Without consulting the menu, he says he'll have lamb biryani and dal makhani. Otherwise, idiyappam is the New Zealander-born's favourite Indian dish. He'd discovered it during his many work-related trips to Kerala. We opt for tomato soup and kebabs.

Taking off from his no-lunch schedule, what's the day like for the man who's steering an integration involving four airlines - a feat not witnessed in India before? Campbell, who has stayed in Singapore, Japan and Canada over the past two decades, with Scoot Airlines being his last assignment before he joined Air India in 2022, says he would ideally like to be in office by 7.30 am. But he realises that in India most people start late. So, he has delayed his arrival in the office to 8.30 am. Does he carry work home? Yes.