Rohit Nandan new AI Chief, Jadhav removed

New Delhi, Aug 12 (PTI) Arvind Jadhav was Friday
removed as CMD of Air India by the Government which appointed
a senior Civil Aviation Ministry official Rohit Nandan as his
successor in a bid to speed up the revival of the ailing
national air carrier.
The appointment of 54-year-old Nandan, who was the
Joint Secretary in the Ministry, was announced even as the
Government faced opposition flak in Parliament over the
dwindling health of the cash strapped airline. Nandan is a
1982-batch Indian Administrative Service(IAS) officer.
As per the notification appointing Nandan as the new
Chairman-cum-Managing Director for a three-year period, Jadhav
was sent back to his parent south Indian state Karnataka
cadre. Jadhav was shunted out nine months before his
three-year term is due to end on May 4, 2012.
Nandan, who took over from Jadhav immediately after his
appointment Friday evening, said he would respond to all major
issues faced by the airline, attaching top priority to revive
it through financial restructuring.
Along with Nandan, government was in the process of
inducting "three to four independent Directors" to the Air
India Board in place of former Federation of Indian Chambers
of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) chief and eastern Indian
state West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra and Vice
Chairman and MD of the Mahindra Group Anand Mahindra, who had
quit a few months ago.
Three functional Directors for Finance, Personnel and
Commercial, would also be appointed to the Board soon, highly
placed official sources said.
"This will be the classical governance structure" for
Air India, they said, adding that the functional directors,
who have so far been from within the organisation, could now
be from outside.
The decision came hours after the government faced the
Opposition's scathing criticism in the Lok Sabha(Lower House
of Indian Parliament) about the running of the airline and its
mounting losses.
Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi met Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh in Parliament House, briefed him on the overall
situation facing the airline and sought his approval to
effect the changes at the top level.
Jadhav has been under attack not only from sections of
the employees like the pilots but also political parties who
have trained their guns on him. His tenure so far has
experienced three major strikes by pilots and other employees.
Referring to the new inductions in the Board, the sources
said the government was looking for persons of eminence and
high calibre from areas of banking, finance, hospitality and
customer care.
"We are looking for the best talent, whether it is
internal or external", the sources said when asked whether the
functional directors would be from within the airline.
With the Group of Ministers on Air India slated to meet
on Wednesday, the government plans to give final touches to
the Turnaround Plan (TAP) and Financial Restructuring Plan
(FRP), including on whether it would infuse Rs 6,600 crore
this fiscal as additional equity.
According to latest figures, Air India's working capital
borrowings from various banks totals Rs 22,165 crore while the
aircraft acquisition programme would work out to another Rs
22,000 crore.
While its monthly revenue collection is estimated at Rs
1,100 crore, its monthly expenditure stands at Rs 1,700 crore,
leaving a gap of Rs 600 crore each month.
After taking over charge, Nandan, a 1982 batch IAS
officer of the north Indian state Uttar Pradesh cadre, said he
would "respond to the major issues faced by the airline and
biggest one is of financial reconstruction and of revival".
"We are working on a turn around plan. The first priority
is that we should reduce losses, the second will be to raise
the morale of the entire staff, they should work like a team
and with common purpose and vision. We will try to develop
leadership at all levels," he said.
"Lastly, we will like to raise the service levels of the
airlines to match the people's expectations", Nandan, who
oversses aviation regulator DGCA in the Ministry, said.