Air-India managing director Michael P Mascarenhas has decided to withdraw his case against the civil aviation ministry, following the revocation of his suspension by the government.
"I have asked my lawyers to withdraw the case," Mascarenhas said at a press conference here on Thursday. A civil suit challenging the May 23 suspension order had been filed in the Mumbai High Court.
Mascarenhas, who will retire on Friday (November 30) on attaining the age of superannuation, said, he is working on his plans for the future.
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"I have spent about 34 years with the airline and right now I am going for a holiday," he added. The civil aviation ministry is expected to announce a new managing director for the airline in the next few days, he said.
Mascarenhas said he would like to closely work with certain organisations in order to avoid the incidents that forced him to go under suspension and file a case against the ministry.
"The past 5-6 months were very painful. Who will take responsibility for these developments," he said.
The revocation was made on the basis of a Central Bureau Investigation (CBI) report exonerating him of the corruption charges.
The ministry had charged Mascarenhas for acting in concert with certain other officials of Air-India and misusing his official post to grant undue favours to Welcome Travel as Air-India's general sales agent in London in 1993 and 1998.
Mascarenhas said the Centre should be able to bring in its own funds to resuscitate the airline. The other option is to revive the ongoing divestment programme that has been kept on hold for the time being, he added.
Tough labour laws and non-availability of funds are the chief problems faced by the airline. Air-India had to resort to various cost-cutting measures such as trimming its workforce to keep afloat. The airline has trimmed its workforce to 17,000 from 18,900 four years ago.
If the Centre can make huge funds available to Indian Airlines, then Air-India should also get monetary assistance, he said.
According to him, Air-India needs a fleet size of around 50-55 aircrafts to compete with airline majors around the world.
"We have to grow from the 24-25 mark in order to become a big player in the industry," he added. He said the September 11 attacks never had any impact on the revenues of Air-India, as the airline mainly caters to the Gulf region.