Tata Sons executive chairman N Chandrasekaran on Monday was appointed as the chairperson of Air India, NDTV reported.
On January 27, Tata Sons had regained control of debt-ridden Air India nearly 70 years after the airline’s nationalisation.
Chandrasekaran is the promoter of more than 100 Tata operating companies, NDTV reported. He joined Tata Sons in October 2016 and was appointed as the chairperson in January 2017. On February 11, Tata Sons reappointed Chandrasekaran as the chairperson for five more years.
However, Tata Sons is yet to fill the post of the chief executive officer for the airline, after Ilker Ayci, the former chairperson of Turkish Airlines, declined to take on the role, Reuters reported.
Ayci was appointed for the position by the board of Air India on February 14. His appointment, however, was subject to security clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Ayci said that he turned down the position as he had read about “attempts to colour his appointment with undesirable colours” in some sections of the Indian media.
His reference was towards the demand by Swadeshi Jagran Manch – an affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh – to block Ayci’s appointment citing “national security” and his previous political links.
Ayci was an adviser in 1994 to Tayyip Erdogan when the Turkish president was mayor of Istanbul.
Ashwani Mahajan, co-convenor of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, had said that the Centre should not approve Ayci’s appointment since Turkey had been sympathetic to Pakistan.
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