Thulasidas new Air India CMD, Trivedi to be joint MD

The government today appointed Air India chief V Thulasidas as the Chief Managing Director and his Indian counterpart Vishwapati Trivedi as Joint Managing Director of the newly merged state-owned carrier.

According to the order, both would hold the posts till March 31 next year or till further orders, official sources said. Thulasidas, an IAS officer, retires on March 25 next year.

The appointments would take effect from the date the merged entity starts functioning, the sources said. The pay and perks of the two officers would also be protected, they said.

The appointments are a step forward in the merger process of the two public sector airlines. A new company, National Airlines Company Ltd, has already been registered.

Earlier this month, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said the new carrier would start functioning as a single entity by the middle of July.

Patel had also said the process of amalgamation and route-schedule rationalisation between the two airlines has commenced.

The rationalisation of routes and schedules of the two carriers between India and Kuwait alone is expected to accrue benefits worth Rs 80 crore per annum. Consultancy firm Accenture is working on these estimates.

The newly merged carrier Air India may also consider a public offer next year to raise funds and plans to launch new routes, including direct flights to the US, in the next two-three months.

"Public offering is very much on the cards. Earlier, our advisers had not favoured the Initial Public Offer due to adverse market conditions as well as the low net worth of the two entities. Now, we hope we can consider IPO in 2008," Patel said.

The merged entity's registered office would be in New Delhi and corporate office in Mumbai. Domestic operations and most of the special business units would be based in the national capital.