The worsening financial health of Air India and its inability to pay salaries on time doesn?t seem to be acting as a deterrent for executives of private sector global carriers willing to join it as its new chief operating officer (COO). As many as 63 professionals, including executives from top foreign carriers like Qatar Airways and Malaysian Airlines, have shown interest in the assignment in response to advertisements by Air India some time back.
Former head of IndiGo’s operations (flight) Shakti Lumba has also thrown his hat in the ring. The airline insiders claimed that Lumba, with his rich experience, is the one of the front-runners for the role. ?We would soon starting shortlisting candidates for interview. Due to the Parliament session, the hiring process has been slightly delayed,? an AI official told FE. Official sources said that Air India has also received a good number of applications from within the company with several pilots and engineers eyeing the key post. Former functional director in the airline board, Anup K Srivastava, has also submitted his application. Other internal candidates include Captain NK Berry and Kapil Raina.
The huge response for the post of COO has come from the industry in spite of the unceremonious exit of Gustav Baldauf whose annual pay package of around R3 crore had become the centre of controversy within the company and the government. The other two executives Pawan Arora selected to head the operations of the national carrier’s no-frill arm Air India Express and Stephen Kumar for training as part of the key team to turnaround the ailing airline had also been given marching orders.
?This time, we are not going to offer salaries and allowances comparable with private sector. It would be more or less at par with the current grades maintained by public sector companies,” said the official. ?The only reason for people from private sector joining a company like Air India as COO could be role improvement. Maybe, they are not in a very comfortable position in their current organisation,” TeamLease Services, a head-hunting firm, co-founder and VP Rituparna Chakraborty said.
Saddled with a combined debt and accumulated losses of over R60,000 crore, AI has been delaying salaries and allowances of its nearly 30,000 staff, triggering agitation. ?Air India needs to first get their house in order with its existing resources. Only then a new COO with international market exposure should be appointed,? Amadeus India managing director Ankur Bhatia said.