Tata Sons chief N Chandrasekaran appointed as Chairman of Air India: Report

Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran.

Tata Sons chief N Chandrasekaran has been appointed as Chairman of Air India on March 14, reported NDTV citing the group's spokesperson.

The development comes after Ilker Ayci declined to take up the position of the airline's CEO on March 1. Tata Sons on February had named the former Turkish Airlines Chairman as its CEO, who was supposed to over on or before April 1 this year.
In a statement announcing his decision, Ayci said: “Since the announcement I have been carefully following news in some sections of the Indian media attempting to colour my appointment with undesirable colours.”

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He added that as a business leader who has always prioritised “professional credo” he had come to the conclusion “that it will not be a feasible or an honourable decision to accept the position in the shadow of such a narrative.”

Experts believe geopolitical crossfire led to the decline of Ilker Alyi as CEO of Air India as Ayci’s appointment raised many eyebrows given the political equations between India and Turkey.

"He (Ayci) got trapped by interference of politics in his aviation business. Maybe he is a victim of that, maybe he used politics to speed up his career … now he learned that India is not Turkey and you better do your homework before applying for a sensitive job like CEO," said Gustav Baldauf, former Chief Operating Officer, Air India.

Considering Ayci's closeness to Turkish President Recip Tayyip Erdogan, who has been supporting Pakistan at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and referring to the human rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir, has incurred the ire of the Indian government.

On January 27, the Tata Group took complete control of Air India from the government, nearly 69 years after it was taken from the conglomerate. The government had on October 8 last year sold Air India to Talace Private Limited - a subsidiary of the Tata Group's holding company - for Rs 18,000 crore following a competitive bidding process.