tata group: Chandrasekaran should chair the new board of directors of Air India
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: A new Air India (AI) Board of Directors led by Tata Group Chairman N Chandrasekaran will soon be formed even as several group executives from TCS, AirAsia India and Tata Steel are set to move to the carrier in difficulty to restart operations. Chandrasekaran, who is awaiting security clearance from the Center to lead Air India’s board, will bring in an expatriate CEO to steer the carrier. This will be his second expatriate CEO hire after German citizen Puneet Chhatwal for Taj Hotels.
According to the current Tata Group board format, Ratan Tata is expected to be Chairman Emeritus of IA, which will mark his return to the carrier after years (Ratan Tata, holder of a wing aircraft pilot license fixed and helicopters, was the IA president in the mid-1980s).
Because AI is a public company, rules require it to have a minimum of three and a maximum of 15 directors on its board, said shareholder advisory firm InGovern founder Shriram Subramanian. “Ideally it should have a minimum of six directors for sufficient diversity.” AI has so far had seven members on its board of directors.
On Thursday, two government-appointed trustees – SK Mishra and VA Patwardhan – and its chairman and chief executive Vikram Dev Dutt resigned from the board after the Tata Group formally took over the Centre’s AI. AI was originally launched by former Tata Group Chairman JRD Tata in 1932 as the country’s first carrier.
AI’s four functional directors – Vinod Hejmadi (finance), RS Sandhu (operations), Meenakshi Mallik (commercial) and Amrita Sharan (personnel) – will remain on the carrier’s board. “The security clearance of the administrators chosen by the Tata group will do that.
Several Tata Group executives will transfer to AI (some transferring to manage specific projects – they will have to return to their original employers after the tasks are completed), a source said. Already, many of them had worked on AI due diligence before the conglomerate filed its bid on the carrier.
Chances are that AI’s new CTO/digital director and HR director will come from TCS and Tata Steel, the same person said. TCS will manage AI’s IT and digital operations. While Tata Steel, which was the first Indian company to have an HR department in 1947, will deal with issues related to AI’s multiple unions. AI comes with a highly unionized workforce with a history of scheduling disruptions for demands. Likewise, people from Tata Motors and TajSats will assist the carrier’s ground fleet and in-flight catering operations, the person said.
According to the current Tata Group board format, Ratan Tata is expected to be Chairman Emeritus of IA, which will mark his return to the carrier after years (Ratan Tata, holder of a wing aircraft pilot license fixed and helicopters, was the IA president in the mid-1980s).
Because AI is a public company, rules require it to have a minimum of three and a maximum of 15 directors on its board, said shareholder advisory firm InGovern founder Shriram Subramanian. “Ideally it should have a minimum of six directors for sufficient diversity.” AI has so far had seven members on its board of directors.
On Thursday, two government-appointed trustees – SK Mishra and VA Patwardhan – and its chairman and chief executive Vikram Dev Dutt resigned from the board after the Tata Group formally took over the Centre’s AI. AI was originally launched by former Tata Group Chairman JRD Tata in 1932 as the country’s first carrier.
AI’s four functional directors – Vinod Hejmadi (finance), RS Sandhu (operations), Meenakshi Mallik (commercial) and Amrita Sharan (personnel) – will remain on the carrier’s board. “The security clearance of the administrators chosen by the Tata group will do that.
Several Tata Group executives will transfer to AI (some transferring to manage specific projects – they will have to return to their original employers after the tasks are completed), a source said. Already, many of them had worked on AI due diligence before the conglomerate filed its bid on the carrier.
Chances are that AI’s new CTO/digital director and HR director will come from TCS and Tata Steel, the same person said. TCS will manage AI’s IT and digital operations. While Tata Steel, which was the first Indian company to have an HR department in 1947, will deal with issues related to AI’s multiple unions. AI comes with a highly unionized workforce with a history of scheduling disruptions for demands. Likewise, people from Tata Motors and TajSats will assist the carrier’s ground fleet and in-flight catering operations, the person said.