Air India CEO Campbell Wilson on Thursday (August 13, 2026) expressed “anger and disappointment” at employees who flout rules and regulations, warning that violations would invite consequences as the airline faces scrutiny over last week’s Phuket–Delhi flight incident, in which the pilot-in-command reportedly tested positive for marijuana, a banned substance.
Not turbulence: Air India A320 suffered rare flight-control event before 300-foot altitude drop The airline also informed all its pilots in an email that mandatory screening for banned substances and medications would come into effect immediately, replacing the earlier system of random testing.
The CEO remarks came as the airline is under investigation into the August 4 incident involving the Phuket–Delhi flight, which suffered a momentary loss of altitude and multiple technical snags within a span of about a minute.
As many as 20 passengers and four crew members were injured during the episode, according to the airline.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has classified the incident as a serious incident and is investigating the sequence of events.
“It angers me, it disappoints me [that] there are some people who think that rules and regulations don’t apply to them,” Mr.
Wilson said in his final town hall address before demitting office.
He warned employees that since privatisation, the airline had put systems and controls in place to ensure that transgressions do not go unchecked and that going forward, the consequences for misdemeanours would only get “tougher and tougher”.
He urged employees to “do the right thing even when no one is watching”, as well as to report wrongdoings.
He underlined that “fundamentally something that’s a problem is a matter of culture and self-discipline”.
He also mentioned that 1,000 employees had been terminated in the last three years for misdemeanours like abuse of travel privileges and forgery of travel documents.
