Chairman, deputy for merged Air India named

Tuesday, 29 May 2007, 19:30 IST
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New Delhi: In the first major step towards merging Air India and Indian Airlines, the government Tuesday named V. Thulasidas as chairman and managing director and Vishwapati Trivedi as joint managing director of the integrated carrier. Thulasidas and Trivedi will continue to function as chairmen and managing directors of Air India and Indian Airlines, respectively, till such time the merged carrier, to be called Air India, comes into being. Both officials will serve the merged carrier till March 31 next year, or till further orders, an official statement said. Thulasidas belongs to the 1972 batch of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) with Manipur and Tripura as his cadre, while Trivedi belongs to the 1977 batch with Madhya Pradesh as his cadre. The union cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, had approved the merger of the two carriers March 1 to help them leverage their combined assets and capital better, and build a stronger and sustainable business. Indian Airlines, which now operates under the brand name 'Indian', and Air India are slated to induct as many as 111 new aircraft over the next five years with the aim of regaining the dominant market share they once enjoyed.
Source: IANS