Hyderabad: Tata Sons on Monday announced the appointment of former chairman of Turkish Airlines Ilker Ayci as the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Air India. The Air India board met this afternoon to consider the candidature of Ilker Ayci and after due deliberations approved the appointment of Ayci as the CEO & MD of Air India, Tata Sons said in a statement.
According to the statement, Ayci will assume his new responsibilities on or before April 1 this year. It also added that Ayci's appointment to the new position is subject to requisite regulatory approvals. Tatas regained ownership of Air India late last month, nearly seven decades after it lost control to the government. A 1994 alumni of Bilkent University, after a research stay on political science at the Leeds University in the UK in 1995, he completed a Master's Programme in International Relations from Istanbul's Marmara University in 1997.
I am delighted and honored to accept the privilege of leading an iconic airline and to join the Tata Group. Working closely with my colleagues at Air India and the leadership of the Tata Group, we will utilize the strong heritage of Air India to make it one of the best airlines in the world with a uniquely superior flying experience that reflects Indian warmth and hospitality, said Ayci.
Ilker is an aviation industry leader who led Turkish Airlines to its current success during his tenure there. We are delighted to welcome Ilker to the Tata Group where he would lead Air India into the new era, said Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran. He was a special invitee to the board meeting which approved the appointment of Ilker.
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#FlyAI : Mr. Ilker Ayci appointed as the CEO & MD of Air India. pic.twitter.com/KhVl0tfUlv
— Air India (@airindiain) February 14, 2022 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
">#FlyAI : Mr. Ilker Ayci appointed as the CEO & MD of Air India. pic.twitter.com/KhVl0tfUlv
— Air India (@airindiain) February 14, 2022#FlyAI : Mr. Ilker Ayci appointed as the CEO & MD of Air India. pic.twitter.com/KhVl0tfUlv
— Air India (@airindiain) February 14, 2022
Earlier in October, the government accepted the highest bid made by Tata Sons for 100 percent equity shares of Air India and Air India Express along with its 50 percent stake in ground-handling company AISATS - the first privatization in 20 years. The Union government officially handed over Air India to the Tata Group on January 27.
Tata group's holding company Talace Pvt Ltd bought Air India for ₹ 18,000 crores after it outbid a consortium led by SpiceJet chief Ajay Singh. Air India was started by the Tata Group in 1932. However, after the country got independence, the airline was nationalised in 1953 by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
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