Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.
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LONG BEACH, Calif. — Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said his career has embraced a “new normal” and a gradual safety focus following one of the most deadly aviation disasters of a decade, one of the planes in June.
All but one of the 242 people on Air India Flight 171 were killed on June 12th, when they were killed Boeing The Dreamliner headed for London crashed seconds after taking off from Ahmedabad in western India. Another 19 people were killed on the ground.
A preliminary report released in July showed the confusion in the cockpit when the fuel cutoff switch was turned over. Audio recordings in the cockpit captured one pilot and cut off the fuel to another pilot, and the other responded that he didn’t.
“The investigation is still ongoing, so I can’t comment too freely, but this has been an absolutely devastating event for the people, families, businesses and staff, and our focus over the past two months has been to support them in every possible way.”
“We continue to work with regulators on the investigation and ensure that learning will take place from that investigation. At this time, the preliminary report shows that there are no issues with the aircraft. It has been impacted,” he said.
Air India was in the midst of a massive modernization effort to compete better with other airlines during the crash and acquire new customers in India’s fast-growing aviation market. The refresh began three years ago after Tata Group privatized the 93-year-old airline from the government.
Wilson, a veteran of the airline who served as CEO of Scoot, a low-cost carrier for Singapore Airlines, said the reforms continue to include new cabins and better technology. The carrier ordered around 570 aircraft.
“When Air India was privatized (we) we could adopt more normal private sector practices, we could make long-term decisions and we had capital to invest,” he said.
