Tata Sons chief N Chandrasekaran to take over as Air India chairman

Alice GeeVarghese Vaidyan, former CMD of General Insurance Corporation, will also be inducted on the board as an independent director.

Tata Sons chief Natarajan Chandrasekaran has been appointed as Chairman of Air India, after The appointment was cleared at a board meeting held on Monday. This development came after Ilker Ayci, former chairman of Turkish Airlines, turned down the Tata Group’s offer to be chief executive officer and managing director of Air India.

Alice GeeVarghese Vaidyan, former CMD of General Insurance Corporation, will also be inducted on the board as an independent director. Meanwhile, the board has also given security clearances needed for their appointment, officials aware of the development told Economic Times.

Chandra’s appointment as Air India chairman comes a month after he got a 5-year extension in his term as chairman of Tata Sons in February 2022.

Meanwhile, Air India is currently looking for a new CEO and is expected to announce a name soon to replace former Turkish Airlines CEO Ilker Ayci, who resigned before officially taking charge. Officials have said that the new CEO will focus on upgrading Air India’s fleet to expand both domestic and international network, Times Now reported.

The home-grown airline was bought out by the Tatas in a $2.4 billion equity and debt deal in October last year. Tata Group had won the bid to acquire the national carrier along with Air India Express and 50 per cent stake in AISATS last year. The Tata Group officially took over the management of the national airlines in January, 2022.

With regular international flights starting from March 27, people will again have the option of taking one-stops via nearby hubs to fly between India and rest of the world.

The bubble system in place -- from March 23, 2020 will end on March 26, 2022 -- meant less flights by foreign airlines.