Tata Sons has appointed Ilker Ayci as the MD and CEO of Air India, the company said in a statement. Previously, Ayci was the Chairman of the Turkish Airlines.
The Air India board met today to approve the candidature of Ilker Ayci. N Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons, was a special invitee to this board meeting.
“The Air India board met on Monday afternoon to consider the candidature of Ayci, with Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran as a special invitee, and approved his appointment, subject to requisite regulatory approvals,” Tata Sons said in a statement.
Ilker Ayci, who is about 51-years-old, is an alumni of Turkey’s Bilkent University, and Leeds University in the UK,
He also holds an International Relations Master’s degree from Turkey’s Marmara University. Ilker is an aviation industry leader who led Turkish Airlines to its current success during his tenure there,” N Chandrasekaran said in the statement. On 27 January, Tatas took over control of Air India, it’s subsidiary Air India Express as well as a 50% stake in joint venture AISATS.
Through a competitive bidding process, the government sold loss-making Air India to Talace for Rs18,000 crores.
As part of the deal, Talace paid Rs 2,700 crore in cash and took over ₹15,300 crore debt of the airline. The remaining debt and borrowings of Air India were transferred to AIAHL.
Meanwhile, Air India has asked its cabin crew to wear minimal jewellery to avoid delays at security checks and not to visit duty-free shops after completing the immigration process as part of the Tatas-owned airline’s efforts to improve on-time performance.
