AI sends Baldauf on a wild goose chase

New Delhi: It will not be easy for Gustav Baldauf — whose appointment as chief operating officer (COO) of Air India was approved by the beleaguered national carrier’s board today — to earn his performance bonus. Baldauf’s cost-to-company, pegged at Rs 2-5-3 crore a year, includes a smart bonus plan that is linked to key performance indicators such as on-time performance, market share and a financial turnaround.
The mandate of the new COO — a post created for the first time in Air India — will be to not only oversee the Rs 16,000-crore airline’s flight operations but implement the merger of Air India with Indian Airlines that’s yet to bring the desired synergies.
For the Austrian, entry into the Maharaja’s palace comes with a crown of thorns. The airline has consistently lost market share over the last decade and even low-cost recent entrants such as Indigo look poised to overtake Air India. Today, the national carrier has a 17.8 per cent market share in domestic skies, with private full-fledged airlines Jet and Kingfisher commanding a more dominant position. Jet has a market share of 26 per cent and Kingfisher 23 per cent.
07/05/10 Smita Aggarwal/Indian Express

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Categories: NACIL May 2010