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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  No chiefs for state-run aviation firms, agencies
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No chiefs for state-run aviation firms, agencies

Tenure of Air India, Aera chairmen set to end, but no replacement chosen yet; other agencies headless for months

Air India Ltd chairman Rohit Nandan’s tenure ends on 11 August, while Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (Aera) chairman Yashwant Bhave’s term ends on 15 July. Photo: MintPremium
Air India Ltd chairman Rohit Nandan’s tenure ends on 11 August, while Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (Aera) chairman Yashwant Bhave’s term ends on 15 July. Photo: Mint

New Delhi: At least five state-owned aviation companies and agencies are headless, or will soon become so, with tenures of incumbents coming to an end and new chiefs yet to be selected.

Air India Ltd chairman Rohit Nandan’s tenure ends on 11 August, while Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (Aera) chairman Yashwant Bhave’s term ends on 15 July. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has been functioning without a permanent head for the past five months, while helicopter operator Pawan Hans and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) have not have full-time heads for more than a year.

The ministry is yet to start the process of appointing a new chairman for Air India or extending the tenure of Nandan, who is the first chairman to complete his term since the Air India-Indian Airlines merger in 2007. Since then, the airline has seen the entry and exit of four chairmen—V. Thulasidas, Raghu Menon, Bharat Bhushan and Arvind Jadhav.

More than 24 people are competing to be the next chief of airport regulator Aera, which oversees passenger and airline levies on over $5 billion worth of projects over the next five years, Mint reported on 9 April. The last date for applying ended in March, but no one has been selected yet.

Among the candidates were Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd chairman R.K. Tyagi; former director general of civil aviation Bhushan, (who also briefly headed Air India) former AAI chairman V.P. Agrawal, AAI’s existing member (finance) S. Suresh, and Dinesh Chander Bajaj and D. Devaraj, current Aera members.

With the government yet to bring in new administrators, Pawan Hans and BCAS are being run by Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers, a government official said.

The process for selecting the AAI chairman is also moving at a very slow pace, said the government official, who declined to be named. The authority has been run by an IAS officer holding additional charge for nearly five months. None of the seven candidates who were interviewed in June, which included board members of AAI, were selected, the same government official said. The process is expected to be restarted.

A second government official, who also declined to be named, said the ministry was trying to fill these positions. Aviation minister Ashok Gajapati Raju, the official said, has conveyed that “honest and efficient" candidates would be a priority in selection.

The delay in naming the heads of these critical institutions comes despite a downgrade of India to Category II by the US aviation regulator, which cited staff shortage at India’s aviation regulator and frequent changes at its helm.

The decision reduces India to a safety category that includes Ghana, Uruguay and Zimbabwe, and means that Air India and Jet Airways (India) Ltd—the two airlines that fly to US destinations—wouldn’t be allowed to expand flights and their existing flights would be subjected to additional checks. They would have to snap ties such as any code-sharing arrangements with US airlines.

“Since succession planning can never interest political leadership as they would always be more keen to appoint their own men through ad hoc decisions than groom individuals, the emerging scenario of vacancies all over shouldn’t surprise anyone," said Air India’s former executive director Bhargava.

Bhargava said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is reported to have commented after a presentation last month that the ministry was citing only challenges, but making no mention of achievements.

“I think he has aptly summed up the ministry’s performance," he said, adding that “it is ironic that even though the aviation sector is going through a turbulent phase for years, the ministry bureaucrats haven’t initiated a single measure to stem the rot or streamline the systems. One hopes the ministry realizes that offering a vacant position to a joint secretary to fill up the position on a part-time basis is not good enough to bring ‘acchhe din’ (good days) for the aviation sector. Professionals should be appointed in all companies under the ministry."

The civil aviation ministry’s promise to make a modern civil aviation authority in place of Directorate General of Civil Aviation has also remained on paper.

Steve Forte, a former chief executive of Jet Airways, said there was a need for “immediate intervention".

“Without doubt, serious effort has to be made to replace top positions with the most qualified individuals and not just any political appointee. With the new government in place since only 26 May, it is to be expected that there will be a period of adjustment before replacements are chosen. We just hope that actions be taken soon especially in view of last year’s FAA (US Federal Aviation Administration) downgrading action."

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Published: 08 Jul 2014, 11:43 PM IST
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