Air India rejig: More Tata executives join, key pre-sale officials retained

Tata Sons senior vice president Nipun Aggarwal has been appointed chief commercial officer and Tata Steel’s Suresh Dutt Tripathi has been appointed chief human resources officer.

Notably, the Tata Group is yet to appoint a chief executive officer of the airline.

Among the pre-disinvestment officials, operations head RS Sandhu and finance head Vinod Hejmadi have been reappointed as chief of operations and chief financial officer, respectively. Aggarwal replaces Air India veteran Meenakshi Malik, while Tripathi succeeds Air India’s Amrita Sharan. Malik and Sharan were appointed as advisors to the CEO of Air India, according to a company communication signed by Chandrasekaran. A copy of the communication was reviewed by The Indian Express.

Further, Satya Ramaswamy has been appointed Air India’s chief digital & technology officer and Rajesh Dogra as head of customer experience and ground handling. While Ramaswamy has worked at Tata Digital as head of strategic initiatives, Dogra comes in from Tata Consultancy Services, where he has played a key role in the company’s execution of the Passport Seva Kendra project.

The communication noted that Malik and Sharan will serve as advisors to the Chairman till the new CEO joins. The Tata Group, in January, had announced former Turkish Airlines Chairman Ilker Ayci as Air India CEO pending a government approval but Ayci later denied the appointment.

Other than Chandrasekaran and the other executive directors, Hindustan Unilever CEO & MD Sanjiv Mehta and former General Insurance Corporation Chairperson Alice Vaidyan serve on Air India’s board of directors as independent directors.

In the absence of a CEO, executive decisions at the airline were being taken by an Air India Managing Committee headed by Aggarwal with Hejmadi, Sandhu, Sharan and Malik as its members.

Further, Air India is restoring salaries of employees in a phased manner to pre-pandemic levels as the aviation sector is recovering with the decline of Covid cases.

The pilots flying allowance, special pay and wide body allowance were cut by 35 per cent, 40 per cent and 40 per cent, respectively, after the onset of the pandemic. From April 1 this year, flying allowance, special pay and wide body allowance of pilots are being restored by 20 per cent, 25 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively, according to an organisational circular of the airline seen by The Indian Express.

Cabin crew members’ flying allowance and wide body allowance was cut by 15 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively, during the peak of the pandemic, the circular noted. Flying allowance and wide body allowance of cabin crew members are being restored by 10 and five per cent, respectively, April 1 onwards. The allowances given to officers and other staff members were cut by 50 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively, during the pandemic, and while officers’ allowances are being restored by 25 per cent from April 1, other staff members’ allowances are being restored to pre-pandemic level.

“As the hope of a post-pandemic world seems within reach and the aviation sector takes off once again with some visible changes in our performance, we are happy to inform you that your salary cuts have been reviewed and the restoration of salaries will happen in a phased manner,” the circular noted.