AI CMD Bansal starts departmental reviews, meets senior execs

Air India's interim chief Rajiv Bansal has started review of various departments and subsidiaries of the airline, according to officials.
Bansal, who took over the reins of the loss-making national carrier on August 24, is meeting senior executives from various departments to understand the overall functioning and issues that need to be addressed on a priority basis, they said.
He has been appointed for three months as Chairman and Managing Director of the disinvestment-bound airline.
His priority areas include on-time performance of flights and customer satisfaction.
After taking charge, Bansal had said he is committed to work on the airline's profitability with a "missionary zeal".

Officials said the new CMD has already held meetings with senior people from various departments, including revenue management and finance. They have also made presentations providing an update about the departments, officials added.

More reviews of departments, including IT and flight safety, and subsidiaries like Air India Express have been lined up this week, they said.
Days after Bansal took over, Air India has asked crew members to ensure that first flights of the day are operated on time, failing which they will have to explain the reasons for the delay.
The carrier, which has been facing flak for delayed flights, is working on ways to improve its on time performance.

"We will plan to work on profitability with a missionary zeal, improve our on time performance and ensure customer satisfaction," Bansal had said on August 24.
A senior IAS officer Bansal replaced Ashwani Lohani, who assumed office as Railway Board Chairman last week.
On June 28, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gave in-principle approval for considering strategic disinvestment of Air India and five of its subsidiaries.
A group of ministers, headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, is working on the modalities for the proposed disinvestment.
The state-owned airline, which has a debt burden of more than Rs 50,000 crore, has been in the red for long but managed to eke out operational profit for the first time in a decade in 2015-16.