N Chandrasekaran to helm Air India

New Delhi/Mumbai: Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran has been appointed as Air India chairman, according to a group spokesperson. The development comes as the Tata Group scouts for a new Air India CEO-MD. Alice GeeVarghese Vaidyan, former CMD of General Insurance Corporation, and Sanjiv Mehta, chairman of Hindustan Unilever, have also been inducted as independent directors on the board. A board meeting was held on Monday to discuss the airline's growth plan ahead, according to the sources.

Earlier this month, ex-Turkish Airlines head Mehmet Ilker Ayci, who was named as the new Air India CEO-MD, declined the position. No reason was given for Ayci's decision.

Last month, the Tata Group-led Air India announced the appointment of Ayci as the new Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the airline. At that time, Ayci while accepting the position said he is "delighted and honoured to accept the privilege of leading an iconic airline and to join the Tata Group". He was expected to take the charge on or before April 1.

Ayci, 51, until recently was the Chairman of Turkish Airlines and was also on its Board of Directors prior to that.

Recently, the Tata Group bought the debt ridden state-owned Air India from the Central government by placing a bid of over Rs18,000 crore at an auction and on January 27, it took over the full control of the airlines.