In a bid to revive the Maharaja’s old glory, Air India’s new Chairman & Managing Director (CMD), Arvind Jadhav has decided to confront the airlines’ falling load factor by taking direct feedback from passengers and promising to “personally” reply to their queries and complaints.

In his first editorial message to passengers in the carrier’s two in-flight magazines, ‘Namaskar’ and ‘Swagat’, Jadhav says “measures to revitalise the product in its totality” have been set in motion. Also in the pipeline is a new National Passengers’ Advisory Board to address passengers’ needs and comfort. “In the hospitality industry, a company striving to be the best can leave no scope for deficiency in service. It shall be my personal endeavour to ensure that your experience is pleasant and comfortable,” Jadhav says in the message.

About Jadhav company officials, on condition of anonymity, say, “On the very first day, he reached office sharp at 9:30, while most come in after 10 am. That very day he asked senior officials to tighten their belts and expressed displeasure on their office timings,” said an Air India official. “He also made a surprise visit to the carrier’s engineering department soon after joining,” said another official.

Jadhav, a 1978 batch IAS officer of the Karnataka cadre, joined Air India when the global aviation industry is facing perhaps its worst phase and at a time when Air India has been pushed behind by private carriers in terms of market share. According to April’s figures for this year, while Vijay Mallya-promoted Kingfisher ferried 8.61 lakh passengers and Naresh Goyal-promoted Jet Airways ferried 7.96 lakh, Air India carried 5.83 lakh passengers.

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