George Thomas (air marshal)

The Air officer is an alumnus of the 74th Course of the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla^[6] and the Air Force Academy, Dundigal. He is also an alumnus of National Defence College, New Delhi.^[7]

He was commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force on 14 June 1989 from the Air Force Academy.^[8] In a career spanning over three decades, he has over 9000 hours of flying experience including more than 3,600 hours as an instructor across various fighter jets on both fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft. He has held various command, staff & instructional appointments. The Air Marshal's operational tenures include being the Commanding Officer of No. 20 Squadron.^[9] He has served as Chief Test Pilot at Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment^[10] and was Defence Attaché at the Embassy of India in Israel.^[11]

As an Air Commodore, he served as Air Assistant to the Chief of Air Satff,^[12] as the Air Officer Commanding of 14 Wing, Chabua, Assam and as Air Cmde (Opl Plg Assesstment and Strategy) at the Air Headquarters, New Delhi.^[8] As an Air Vice Marshal, he served as the Assistant Chief of Air Staff, Projects^[13] and as the Assistant Chief of Air Staff, Plans.^[14]

After getting promoted to the rank of Air Marshal on 1 October 2024,^[15] he assumed the appointment of Senior Air Staff Officer, Central Air Command.^[4] After his stint as SASO, Central Air Command, on 1 June 2025 he assumed the appointment of the Director General Air Operations at the Air Headquarters.^[3] On 1 May 2026, Air Marshal George Thomas took over as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Air Command succeeding Air Marshal Jeetendra Mishra who superannuated on 30 April 2026.^[2]

During his career, the air marshal has been awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2019^[1] and the Vayu Sena Medal in 2010.^[16] He has also received commendations from the Chief of Air Staff.