The entire top management of Air India is to be replaced in the next 30 days owing to the turbulent 2 years of the national carrier.
There would also be a partial disinvestment of Air India sometime in 2010. The major revamp includes axing most of the old time directors to make way for a Professional Chief Operating Officer.
"You will see in the next 30 days a major change in the top management in Air India. You are going to see a major change in the board. Some heads are going to roll... We are going to bring high quality people of great integrity and people with a proven track record in business," civil aviation minister Praful Patel said.
"The government is not going to kick out employees. It can happen in private sector but not here. The Government has its own commitments and we will honour the commitment,” Patel said.
The 'metamorphosis' comes after Air India reported huge losses of about Rs 5,000 crore in the 2008-09 financial year, forcing Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel to approach Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for a Rs 10,000-crore bailout package for the airline. At least seven independent directors, who are internationally reputed, would be inducted on the board. At the moment Air India does not even have a chief operating officer and a global advertisement will be put out for the post.
"Considering the critical financial state of the airline, we should all be prepared to face the impact of harsh decisions that will be required to be taken in the coming weeks to meet the current difficult financial situation," Air India chief Arvind Jadhav said.
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the global aviation industry is expected to lose about $9 billion this year. The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) says the Indian aviation industry is likely to incur around $2-billion losses this year. Two major domestic air-carriers, Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways have reduced jobs and slashed salaries.
Source: India.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment