Air India top hires under govt scrutiny

New Delhi: Even as it struggles to cope with its Rs. 40,000 crore debt, Air India has been hit with fresh troubles after its recent hires from the private sector have come under intense scrutiny by the government. The airline may actually see the exit of the newly appointed Air India Express chief operating officer (COO) Pawan Arora.
“We have asked the airline to reconsider the decision and sought a termination of Pawan Arora,” said an official in the civil aviation ministry.
Arora’s dismissal, if it happens, is certain to raise questions about the entire recruitment process and the role of chairman and managing director Arvind Jadhav. “Whatever are the issues, they will be taken up (by) the board in the next meeting,” said Jadhav in response to a query on Arora. The next meeting of Air India’s board is scheduled for 11 November.
Air India has hired at least four top-level officials, including Arora, COO Gustav Baldauf, Stefan Sukumar as chief of training for Air India, and a former corporate communications executive from the Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group Kamaljit Rattan as chief information officer.
The appointments were cleared despite objections raised by some board members in the meeting held on 28 September in Mumbai on the methodology and process followed, as Mint had reported on 29 September.
Arora was removed from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) where he had been seconded as flight operations inspector (FOI) from budget airline IndiGo, days before the Air India board clearance. DGCA removed him from the position as it found that he was not qualified for the post, according to an internal letter reviewed by Mint.
Chennai-based safety expert and CASAC (civil aviation safety advisory council) member Mohan Ranganathan says even Sukumar’s appointment may be questionable as he is an instructor on A300 and A310 aircraft, both of which are either being phased out or are not in Air India’s fleet. In departure from practice, Sukumar’s position was also not advertised by Air India.
02/11/10 Tarun Shukla/Live Mint

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Categories: Air India Nov 2010