The ongoing implementation of sustainable industrial processes envisions the use of compressed air instead of natural resources to test equipment. Particularly, there is a huge interest on developing strategies to timely locate leakage spots in gas/water circuits. Thus, in this study, a commercial infrared thermography camera (IRC) is tested in controlled air leakage scenarios, its automatic ability to detect leaks being compared to the performance of a trained observed with access to IR images. Results identified scenarios where the IRC operates efficiently, also recognizing operational limitations related to changes in leak rate, distance to the target, and rotation of the leaking component. The detection of leaks by a trained observer proved to be not only faster compared to the automatic process, but also proficient in identifying leaks in complex scenarios where the IRC failed to automatically point out leaking sites. Overall, the application of the tested IRC in an industrial context is promising, but there are optimization routes that need to be addressed in the future to enhance automatic air leak detection.