Ahead of its official takeover in January 2022, Tata Sons has shortlisted an expat CEO to lead Air India. The company has also shortlisted members for reconstituting the board of the airline, according to an Economic Times report.

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However, a formal announcement is expected in January 2022, the report said.

While the new Air India CEO will finalise the management team for the national carrier, the members of the Air India board will have officials from Tata Sons, group aviation experts, and a retired government official as an independent director.

A marketing and branding plan for Air India is also being put together. Besides, discussions are also ongoing on ways to tackle employee unions.

Meanwhile, Talace Limited, which houses Air India and Air Asia, is chalking out a financial plan for working capital requirements like payment of salaries, refurbishing aircraft, and quality control expenses, among others. Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran is likely to be the head of the Talace group and Bhaskar Bhat, Air Asia CEO, is expected to be a member of the group. Officials close to the government will also be part of the group.

In another significant development, the Tata group is also in the process of acquiring a stake in Kerala’s Cochin airport, the third largest airport in India in terms of international passenger traffic connecting India to West Asian countries. With this, the Tata Group would become the only company to have an operational stake in a major Indian airport, according to a Business Standard report. Currently, Air India has a 3 percent stake in Cochin International Airport.

In October, the Centre had signed a share purchase agreement with Tata Sons for the sale of Air India for Rs 18,000 crore.

(Edited by : Anshul)

First Published:Dec 3, 2021 6:05 PM IST