Rohit Nandan's Inheritance of Loss: To head debt-burdened Air India

Rohit Nandan, a joint secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation, has been named the airline's new Chairman and Managing Director. He has replaced Arvind Jadhav, whose term was slated to end in May 2012. Nandan is Air India's third chief in as many years.
Interestingly, the announcement of Rohit Nandan's appointment came on a day when questions were raised in Parliament about Arvind Jadhav's appointment in 2009.
Gurudas Dasgupta of the Communist Party of India (CPI) shared a note, dated March 2008, in Parliament on Friday. According to him, the same committee that named Raghu Menon (who was then the Special Secretary and Financial Advisor to the Ministry of Civil Aviation) the chief in 2008, changed its stance within a year and named Jadhav as the airline's head. Dasgupta said: "The appointment is dubious; the performance is dubious; the result is dubious; and dubious is the attitude of the Government."
Senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi further asked: "What was the need to terminate Raghu Menon's term within a year and revive the selection committee?"
So not only has Jadhav's two-year term been tumultuous, his appointment too has taken a hit. In the course of his stint as Air India's CMD, Jadhav has faced employee ire - best case in point is the pilot strike that cost the airline about Rs 200 crore - and seen the airline bleed further.
13/08/11 Geetanjali Shukla/Business Today

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Categories: Air India Aug 2011