‘The role model for the new Air India is the Air India of old . . . in 50s-60s it was one of the world’s best airlines’

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Posted: Sunday , Aug 19, 2007 at 0302 hrs IST

V. Thulasidas

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V. THULASIDAS: There’s been talk of an Air India-Indian Airlines merger for the last 20 years, but it never happened, perhaps because there was no great compulsion in those times. But that’s not the case today. You won’t find a single country with a separate airline for domestic flights and another for international flights.

The final act of the Air India-Indian Airlines merger will be joining one of the three global alliances — Star Alliance, the largest; the Skyteam; or OneWorld. We are in dialogue with them.

Let me tell you, pilot-wise, engineer-wise, cabin crew-wise, we’re still the best. With an Air India captain, you’ll feel most comfortable flying through turbulence and landing on an airstrip. Despite being very old, our planes are maintained to very high standards of maintenance. We’ll keep improving, and you’ll have every reason, as Indians, to be proud of this airline.

SOURAV MAJUMDAR: Your entire plan depends on the merger itself. How do you plan to deal with employees who aren’t happy with the merger?

I don’t believe there’s any section that’s unhappy about the merger. I’ve had discussions with the Air India and Indian Airlines unions, along with Union Aviation Minister Praful Patel. None of the unions is against the merger. But they want to use the opportunity to project some of their demands for wage revision, payment of arrears etc. We’ve said, ‘Fair enough.’

As for name and identity, it had to be Air India, Indian Airlines, or another name. The government correctly thought a new name didn’t make sense, as you’d have to build the brand all over again. And since it’s going to be an integrated international airline, a globally known brand name is better. This was the advice Accenture, our consultant, gave us after a market survey. And look at the livery, the logo — there’s in fact more of Indian Airlines in it than Air India. It’s a merger of equals and I’m committed to ensuring there’s fairness and justice in placing people from both airlines in positions in the new one.