Air India COO to Govt: Don’t interfere so much,let me work

Baldauf said the heavily debt-ridden airline would need funds of about Rs 20,000 crore to stay afloat,twice the amount mentioned by new Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi last week.

“It is certainly a difficult environment,in the Indian environment,the stakeholder — the government — plays too prominent a role in operations,” Baldauf told The Indian Express in an interview on the eve of a meeting in Delhi on Wednesday with Ravi where he is due to make a presentation about the airline.

“When you call someone from outside,let him work. The government should control but let him work. It should not be involved in day-to-day operations.”

Baldauf,who has worked with Jet Airways in the past,said the Indian government went through an elaborate process before it hired him and he had been confident at that time that there was a clear understanding in the government and the company to change and improve the airline.

“I got two offers,from Air Cameroon and Air India. I could have had a quiet life at Air Cameroon…it’s a small company,no big challenges,easy to handle,but this is what I want. This is a bigger challenge. I am still willing to do it,” Baldauf said. “But I also need some commitment from the stakeholder that,yes,you are our man. If you tell me,that you are not the guy to do it,then tell me,but then I also want to know why did you accept my plan,let me work for eight months.”

Baldauf’s short tenure with Air India has not been free of controversies. He has run foul of the Ministry of Civil Aviation over some of the people he brought into the company such as Air India Express COO Pawan Arora and Air India’s Chief Training Officer Captain Stephan Sukumar.

While Arora was sacked by the minister,two months after the AI board and its independent directors called for his dismissal,Sukumar is also believed to be on his way out. The government is yet to take a decision on the turnaround plan submitted by Baldauf even as the airline has shown operating profits in the last few months. Besides,restrictions have apparently been placed on Baldauf’s international travel because he was thought to be flying out of the country too often.

But Baldauf said the government needed to be patient and back him. “The company that was not turned around in the last 10 years,you cannot turn it around in six months. But whatever you do please have a plan,and stick to the plan,” Baldauf said. “In positions like this,you have to expect firing from everybody,and everybody will give you good advice without having any experience — it is an easy exercise.”

Baldauf also said that the government should stick to its decisions with both the appointments at Air India and chose to defend Arora,weeks after he was fired by the ministry following complaints that he was not qualified for the job. “We never got to know why he was fired,but his performance was good. He was able to restore the number of flights of Air India Express which had slipped to 160,” Baldauf said.

He said that the changes being implemented in Air India were hurting those within the government as well,which could be the reason why there is resistance. “Not everybody is comfortable with change. Even in government,people sitting in their comfort levels,they don’t want to change as change will mean something will change for them,” he said.

Baldauf’s turnaround plan is now being vetted by consulting firm Deloitte and SBI Caps after which it will go to a group of ministers and then to the Finance Ministry for final approval. Until then,the airline could only make some basic changes as the turnaround plan cannot be implemented until the government injects funds.

Air India has continued to lose its market share in the domestic skies and with 17 percent has dropped one place to number four,behind Jet,Kingfisher and Indigo. Air India employees have accused the airline of curtailing profitable routes,reducing the flying hours of Indian pilots at the cost of expensive expat pilots,and giving away profitable routes to private carriers. The airline has also not been able to implement fully the single code transformation,which is crucial for it to join the Star Alliance.

Baldauf said that the airline could regain its market share by focusing on domestic routes. He also said that the delay in the delivery of the Boeing 787 had hurt the airline considerably and that was one reason why the airline had lost its market share. “A lot of routes were cancelled with the phasing out of aircraft. Aircraft from the domestic routes were taken off and put on international routes,because of which our domestic market share went down. The focus should now be to regain domestic share and then focus on international,” he said.