Is it possible for N Chandrasekaran to restore Air India to its former glory in 2022?

2017 was the year. N Chandrasekaran got out of his deep blue Jaguar XF to get into Tata Sons’ headquarters, Bombay House, in Mumbai. When he looked at something, it looked like he had been looking at it for a long time.

They were having a meeting in one of the meeting rooms of the four-story building, which was initially built by the famous Scottish architect George Wittet. Their boss, “Chandra,” was coming to the office door. The meeting also included Phee Teik Yeoh, who used to be the CEO of Vistara, a four-year-old joint venture between Tata Sons and its longtime partner, Singapore Airlines. She was at the meeting, as well. When she was going to explain the joint venture situation, which was losing money, she would give a speech.

Then Chandrasekaran worked as a technical intern for Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in 1987. He worked his way up the corporate ladder to become the CEO of TCS before becoming the CEO of Tata Sons. A lousy start to Chandrasekaran’s career in the aviation industry has made it hard for him to get ahead. He hasn’t changed his mind, even though the IT company, which makes more than INR40,000 million in profit a year, sells software to airlines worldwide. Even so, he hasn’t.

That’s why he didn’t like planes. He said that everyone who works in the aviation industry makes money, except for the airline. This is what someone who worked with him said. “He said it a lot,” the source said.

Chandrasekaran draws on his experience at Tata Sons to help him to get the job done.

Let’s pretend he used to be excited about Norwegian Air to show how this works. 2017 was the year. N Chandrasekaran got out of his deep blue Jaguar XF to get into Tata Sons’ headquarters, Bombay House, in Mumbai. When he looked at something, it looked like he had been looking at it for a long time.

They were having a meeting in one of the meeting rooms of the four-story building, which was initially built by the famous Scottish architect George Wittet. Their boss, “Chandra,” was coming to the office door. The meeting also included Phee Teik Yeoh, who used to be the CEO of Vistara, a four-year-old joint venture between Tata Sons and its longtime partner, Singapore Airlines. She was at the meeting, as well. When she was going to explain the joint venture situation, which was losing money, she would give a speech.

Then Chandrasekaran worked as a technical intern for Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in 1987. He worked his way up the corporate ladder to become the CEO of TCS before becoming the CEO of Tata Sons. A lousy start to Chandrasekaran’s career in the aviation industry has made it hard for him to get ahead. He hasn’t changed his mind, even though the IT company, which makes more than INR40,000 million in profit a year, sells software to airlines worldwide. Even so, he hasn’t.

That’s why he didn’t like planes. He said that everyone who works in the aviation industry makes money, except for the airline. This is what someone who worked with him said. “He said it a lot,” the source said.

Chandrasekaran draws on his experience at Tata Sons to help him to get the job done. Let’s pretend he used to be excited about Norwegian Air to show how this works. 2017 was the year. N Chandrasekaran got out of his deep blue Jaguar XF to get into Tata Sons’ headquarters, Bombay House, in Mumbai. When he looked at something, it looked like he had been looking at it for a long time.

They were having a meeting in one of the meeting rooms of the four-story building, which was initially built by the famous Scottish architect George Wittet. Their boss, “Chandra,” was coming to the office door. The meeting also included Phee Teik Yeoh, who used to be the CEO of Vistara, a four-year-old joint venture between Tata Sons and its longtime partner, Singapore Airlines. She was at the meeting, as well. When she was going to explain the joint venture situation, which was losing money, she would give a speech.

Then Chandrasekaran worked as a technical intern for Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in 1987. He worked his way up the corporate ladder to become the CEO of TCS before becoming the CEO of Tata Sons. A lousy start to Chandrasekaran’s career in the aviation industry has made it hard for him to get ahead. He hasn’t changed his mind, even though the IT company, which makes more than INR40,000 million in profit a year, sells software to airlines worldwide. Even so, he hasn’t.

That’s why he didn’t like planes. He said that everyone who works in the aviation industry makes money, except for the airline. This is what someone who worked with him said. “He said it a lot,” the source said.

Chandrasekaran draws on his experience at Tata Sons to help him to get the job done. Let’s pretend he used to be excited about Norwegian Air to show how this works.

According to this source, the CEO of Norwegian Air was present at a meeting at Bombay House in 2017, and the Singaporeans were not pleased with his presence.

The full-service business had been in operation for around 50 years. Singapore Airlines considers itself the gold standard in terms of airline service standards across the world. At the same time, Norwegian Air, which was created in 1993, is a low-cost carrier that has been credited with pioneering the growth of transatlantic flights.

After almost five years, the encounter at Bombay House is still fresh in our minds. A total of four other airlines, including Vistara, will be brought back by Chandrasekaran, who has a 55-year-old staff. And a large part of his success will be determined by the individuals he selects to lead them.

The hunt for excellent individuals is still on.
lker Ayci would not be joining the Tata Sons-owned airline, making it more difficult for Chandrasekaran to recruit qualified candidates to oversee Air India and Turkish Airlines.

He may also be required to spend a significant amount of time working in the aviation sector to turn around the airline company, which will form a considerable part of his legacy after his death.

According to around two dozen persons who worked on Air India’s resurrection, the first few weeks after Tata Sons’ acquisition of the state-owned airline have not gone as smoothly as they would have hoped. There is still much doubt regarding the airline’s short- and long-term strategic path in the Air, even after significant changes have been made to the company’s management.

Former Indian Airlines deputy managing director Manet Paes believes that people don’t care whether they’re informed that “We appreciate you,” as long as they’re not the twenty-first person in line at the contact centre. He’s talking about moving things forward more quickly and doing more than making things seem excellent.

Before hiring a CEO, Chandrasekaran desired someone to oversee the airline’s day-to-day operations, develop the airline’s senior management team, and make suggestions on matters like mergers with other airlines.

After winning the auction to purchase Air India in October of last year, Tatas immediately started seeking a new CEO to lead the company.

Chandrasekaran had initially been planned to recruit an ex-pat he knew from his time at TCS, but he changed his mind after learning more about him. Even though he was already in his early 60s, the concept was scrapped because he believed that the most qualified person to lead Air India should be in his 50s (Ayci is 51 years old).

The assignment to select Air India’s top five CEO candidates was entrusted to the executive search company Egon Zehnder, and its headquarters are in Zurich.

Because many ex-pat CEOs did not want to relocate away from their families during the epidemic, finding a suitable candidate was difficult.

When Ayci, who had already visited the Tata headquarters twice, was eventually given the position, a second person confirmed it. Still, he did not want to be identified because of company policy. Ayci has done an outstanding job managing Turkish Airlines’ labour unions and overseeing a developing firm throughout his tenure there. He may have appealed to Chandrasekaran since he embodied many “Asian ideals,” as the saying goes. Additionally, since he was a political advisor to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he may have been able to get along with government leaders in the country.

Individuals who have worked with Chandrasekaran have said that he has an excellent understanding of which people are good and which are not. Even though Sunil Bhaskaran, who previously worked for Tata Steel in Jamshedpur, knew nothing about flying, he was appointed as the new CEO of AirAsia India in 2018, even though he had no prior experience in the aviation industry. This was when the airline was receiving a great deal of negative publicity due to an inquiry into bribery, legal suits brought by an attorney and senior BJP official, and the civil aviation ministry’s refusal to allow it to fly abroad.

Last year, Chandrasekaran assigned Saurabh Agrawal, a close friend of Nipun Aggarwal, to oversee the bidding process for Air India. Aggarwal also holds the position of senior vice president at Tata Sons, where he now works. Tatas acquired Air India with relatively minimal debt due in part to the government’s acquisition of the majority of the airline and the allocation of INR52,000 crore in next year’s budget for the purchase. There were a few downsides, to be sure.

Bhaskaran entertains AirAsia staff by performing on guitar and singing Kishore Kumar tunes. Aggarwal, on the other hand, was a whole different storey.

“When Nipun speaks, he does it with a lot of venoms. third person: “He works as an investment banker, which means he is quite aggressive in his approach.” You can’t tell him you’ll get back to him tomorrow because he’ll tell you, “Get it done in one hour.”

However, this is not the case with the CEO position at Air India. On the same day that Tata Sons acquired Air India, he resigned as chairman of Turkish Airlines. Even though he had a lot of negative things to say about Erdogan, who is not very favourable to India, Chandrasekaran was highly interested in appointing Ayci for the position. It has also been reported that Ayci had a relationship with a financier for al-Qaeda.

The Indian government may have approved ayci’s nomination due to a recent experience, which boosted his confidence. Voltas, a Tata firm that manufactures air conditioners, and Arcelik, a company that manufactures home appliances, formed a partnership in 2017 to assist in the growth of the Indian consumer durables industry. That job was completed successfully and without incident.

It’s not the same when you’re in the Air.

They were concerned that Ayci would have difficulty dealing with Air India union members in the background. As a result of this, his position at Air India was often mentioned as a safety hazard. These labour unions are also known for reaching out to various political groupings.

A few days after Ayci’s identity was revealed, the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, a wing of the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh, stated that the government should not provide Ayci security clearance “for the sake of national security.”

This is evident since Tatas failed to see it, although they employed a prestigious CEO search agency such as Zehnder. TCS is well-known for doing extensive studies on worldwide contracts. You may have looked into the history of another Turkish corporation to see whether it would be of assistance. For Celebi, a Turkish ground-handling firm with its headquarters in Istanbul, it has been necessary to emphasize that most investors are from the United States. It is operational in Indian airports.

According to Murali Ramachandran, the CEO of Celebi’s India, a security check might take six and eight months.

It takes three to four months for foreigners to get a security clearance from India’s home ministry, while locals like Chandrasekaran may obtain one in as little as a month or two. I believe six months or maybe longer is a reasonable expectation that Chandrasekaran would have waited for his new boss to provide the airline with a strategic direction.

On February 11, the chairman and managing director of Hindustan Unilever, Chandrasekaran and Sanjiv Mehta, were appointed to the board of directors of Air India. Tatas had requested that both of them be given security clearance. After three days, Ayci’s name was announced as the company’s chief executive officer. On the other hand, his documents were not relocated to get a security clearance, and thus they did not move. Because of the uproar, he said two weeks ago that he did not want the position.

Someone knowledgeable of the situation said that “they spent the previous 20 days attempting to persuade the guy to reconsider his position.” He may not have been able to function well inside the system due to his story-laden baggage.” Tatas’ decision not to submit his security clearance credentials demonstrates a change of heart on his part.

According to the second insider, the airline intends to seek a new CEO from outside the nation over several weeks, perhaps from another country.

While the hunt for a new CEO continues, the airline has decided to concentrate on the fruit that is easiest to harvest.

Arriving on time
Air India has experienced an uptick in the number of flights that arrive on time in crucial cities over the previous few weeks, with the number of on-time flights in significant cities currently hovering around 95 per cent.

Yes, you are correct.

The source’s identity is withheld since they do not want to be identified. Another source familiar with the matter said that Tata Sons has been investigating Air India’s systems since last year. In addition, the group discovered that the airline no longer tracked on-time performance on the same day that it used to.

Reports used to arrive the next day, but now they are sent the same day. This is no longer the case. There is also a new method of ensuring that regional directors communicate with one another more often, which is beneficial for everyone.

Airline pilots used to sometimes release the parking brakes on their aircraft even though they did not have authorization from air traffic control (ATC) to move their planes rearward to land on the runway. Technically, this was sometimes done for technical reasons, but it also allows pilots to clock in more paid work hours, detrimental to the airline’s bottom line. Therefore it was sometimes done. Since changing their scheduling approach, about 0.5 per cent of Air India’s flights have arrived on time.

“It was very strange,” one individual said.

As part of the new management’s effort to ensure that flights depart on time, the pilots have instructed the ground personnel to shut the gates on time so that the planes may pass on time. The first flight of the day, which takes off at roughly 5 a.m., receives a great deal of attention, and the gates are intended to be locked 20 minutes before the aircraft takes off. Even if the first departure is on time, there will still be some additional time to account for any delays later in the day.

It used to be that some pilots would stop by Starbucks for a cup of coffee even if it meant that their flights were delayed or that the company’s conveyance didn’t arrive on time. A fifth official, who did not want to be identified, tells ET Prime that this was previously the case.

They’re all sprinting towards the aircraft, yet only 20% of them have changed their minds about flying. Because they fear losing their employment, they behave in this manner. ” The majority of the time, the shift in mentality has not yet occurred.

Tatas cannot let rid of Air India staff for the duration of the contract, which is one year. This implies that the airline’s personnel will have around ten more months to demonstrate that they are competent. According to the second source, a voluntary retirement plan (VRP) for Tata workers may also be in the works. VRS may still be utilized for the time being, but the government has requested that the organization refrain from doing so for a year.

When it comes to overhauling an airline that has been handled ad hoc under the “advice” of numerous officials and ministers, Chandrasekaran is well aware of the obstacles involved. Suresh Tripathi, the former head of human resources of Tata Steel, has been appointed to the position.

In a new video conference dubbed #Takeoff, Tripathi has invited all of the airline’s workers to share their concerns and learn about the company’s future ambitions. That is not the end of it, though. They’ve also been provided with an e-mail address to which they may direct their concerns. Queries are sent to various departments and addressed by the individuals responsible for them.

Having previously dealt with labour unions, Tripathi has been empathetic while still severe during the current negotiations. In his communication with the staff, he has explained that they would only be promoted if they continue to perform well in the future. The airline, which previously used the assistance of celebrities such as Sharmila Tagore and Jaya Bachchan in the hiring process, now has a committee that will choose who will be promoted and who will not.

When pilots inquired about wage rises, Tripathi was forthright and honest with them.

“First and foremost, we must earn money to distribute it to the employees. According to the Daily News, he informed them that the most important thing for the first year is to make the airline more efficient. This is according to the fifth individual who said this.

Those who work for a corporation must adhere to specific guidelines.
As part of its efforts to improve its service, the airline requires its crew members to participate in a two-day refresher course every three years.

Passengers are now referred to as “guests,” and the word yatriyon (passengers) has been changed to athithis (guests) in Hindi to reflect this change.

The team has also been instructed to refrain from addressing one another as “sir” or “madam.” Instead, they should introduce themselves by their first names. This has not gone down well with the senior members of the ship’s crew.

Furthermore, the crew expects a great deal more from domestic flights than they get, yet they do not receive what they anticipate.

On certain flights, passengers should be provided with both hot and cold towels, among other things. While the breadbasket has been reinstated, the tongs used to serve the bread and the silver entrée used to dish the liquids have not always been.

“The training is completed promptly.” According to the fifth person, it is more appropriate for a wide-body cabin crew to do this task, although even narrow-body crew members must do so.

They are also dissatisfied with the airline’s insistence that everyone is trained on all of its aircraft. Some individuals believe that flying tiny aircraft is a bad experience. The merger of Indian Airlines and Air India took place many years ago. Still, the airline has continued to function as two different companies in many respects – narrow body and vast body. However, even though this cross-training should have been completed years ago to save money and enhance flight operations, the training has yet to begin.

In the past, Air India has not ordered its employees to reduce weight since the union has taken a strong stand against the firm. When opposed to Vistara’s monthly financial filings, weight checks for the crew were only performed once every four years. They were cautioned and instructed to lose weight within a specific time frame if any of their staff members were found to be overweight. This deadline was also often postponed, as did the previous one.

Some individuals work for the business that does these checks, but they have only been able to get information on how often these checks are performed.

According to some analysts, if they penalize overweight staff members, Air India will become the new Air India. Aside from that, it’s the same old airline, “This fifth individual, who was previously cited, adds.

Tatas have been generous in their attempts to improve the image of their airline, even if it may not be able to recoup the money they have spent on the revamping of the menu. As an alternative to the traditional coleslaw sandwich, a corn-cheese sandwich is offered, and a kheer cham cham is presented as dessert instead of a little Dairy Milk chocolate bar.

Even in this case, there have been faults. The Air India menu that ET Prime examined included many typographical errors. For example, Airbus is spelt “Airbus,” while Grilled Zucchini is spelt “Frilled Zucchini,” among other variations.

The crewing department continues to be staffed by the same group of individuals, and there are several skeletons in the closet. Nothing is going to happen. It is critical to developing fresh talent continually. It is recommended by those who are aware of this that they recruit someone with extensive expertise operating full-service airlines to lead this department initially.

As a result of the ongoing liquidity shortage, Air India has also been harmed.

For example, the airline lacks the forecasting tools necessary to determine how many passengers will be interested in its flights, analyze previous patterns, and set rates following those predictions. This isn’t the only thing Air India hasn’t been able to pull off successfully.

Apart from that, we don’t even have laptop computers to use for work, and those who do have them are primarily seniors. A total of seven more individuals believe that if we purchase new software, our computers would most certainly crash as a result.

The Tatas, on the other hand, have moved quickly to clean Air India’s headquarters and ensure that employees are paid on time. They have also taken steps to ensure that the buildings and grounds are cleaned regularly. Executives from TCS have also been stationed in the Air India headquarters, according to him, to get more precise information on revenue management and other aspects of the airline.

Tatas has discovered that many of its workers use Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, and other similar services. As a result, the software firm will require hundreds of new workplace e-mail accounts.

In an interview with ET Prime, an Air India official said that “[it] is exclusively for the crew’s convenience, and there are no spelling errors on the menu card.” According to the document, cabin staff BMI (body mass index) inspections are part of a standard operating procedure (SOP). The airline has a website “does not want to provide further information on this subject. “There are no shortages, and all servicing equipment is transported on the planes,” says the spokesperson.”

Today, the company’s goal is to enhance the entire customer experience across all of its customer care touchpoints, including call centres. According to an Air India spokeswoman, “a thorough revamp of process and procedure is being carried out with the express purpose of rapidly resolving passenger complaints.”

One of the most severe difficulties.
According to Chandrasekaran, the contract with Air India was favourable, but Tata failed to contact the essential engineering department, which the government administers.

According to an eighth official who did not want to be identified, it represents a significant danger. “How do you work around someone who isn’t under your direct authority but who has the potential to damage your flight operations and aircraft turnaround time?” says the pilot.

Indeed, some AI Engineering Services Ltd (AIESL) have gone on strike this week, claiming that they are not being compensated enough. Some flights have been cancelled as a result of this. According to a ninth person familiar with the arrangements, Air India will continue to employ AIESL. Still, its legacy contracts will be 30 per cent more expensive than if they had been completed in-house like other carriers.

It will be difficult for Chandrasekaran since Air India would suffer a significant financial loss due to his actions. In FY22, the airline is expected to have a net loss of around INR5,000 crore. A probable aircraft order and rising oil costs might result in a loss equal to or even more significant than this in the next fiscal year.

Consequently, since the government has purchased the majority of Air India’s debt, the company’s interest payments would be reduced. In addition, the airline would be rewarded for paying its bills on time, such as receiving fuel discounts from Indian Oil Corporation. It already has more favourable lending conditions from lenders such as the State Bank of India, which is a positive development.

Although Chandrasekaran is well-known for delegating a great deal of authority to the senior executives of his group’s enterprises, he is interested in seeing a return on the money that he spends. If the team does not perform well, he will not hesitate to make changes.

According to the first individual cited above, “He is not the one who should be spoilt.”

Because the group’s two loss-making airlines, Vistara and AirAsia India, are joint ventures with other firms, Chandrasekaran may be restricted in his ability to do business. At the outset, the Tatas were solely meant to be in charge of finance and human resource management.

Even though Agrawal, the group’s top financial officer, is always enraged with both carriers.

It is predicted that these airlines would expect to gain Rs. 200 crores; nevertheless, at the end of the year, they will have reported a loss of Rs. 400 crore.”

To Agrawal’s chagrin, their presentations would be followed by even more ambitious plans for their airlines to expand, further irritating him. At that moment, Chandrasekaran would enter the picture.

It was his way of saying, “Let us not strive to be overly ambitious.” “We won’t be able to become IndiGo overnight. Every year, we have to put forth a lot of effort.” Become the second or third person on the list.

Tatas has risen to become the second-largest airline in India and the first-largest airline in the world due to its acquisition of Air India in 2011. However, it will take a long time for Chandrasekaran to achieve the earnings of IndiGo before the pandemic occurs.

His second tenure as chairman of Tata began last month and will finish in 2027 when he reaches the age of 60, which means that it will not be uncomplicated and will include a firm that does not generate profits.

After the meeting at Bombay House, his favourite airline, Norwegian Air, was forced to shut its doors three years after the encounter.

edited and proofread by nikita sharma