Air India COO Gustav Baldauf's job on shaky ground

Air India’s chief operating officer (COO) Gustav Baldauf’s employment with the airline is shaky.

Official sources confirmed on Wednesday that the Ministry of Civil Aviation was upset with Baldauf’s assertion that the government, which owns Air India, should stop interfering in the airline’s functioning.

Baldauf held a 50-minute meeting with civil aviation minister Vayalar Ravi on Wednesday evening to discuss a turnaround plan for the airline.

The meeting came in the backdrop of growing voices within the ministry to terminate his services. Apparently, the COO has breached his service contract by going public with his grievances against the government.

Baldauf’s appointment has been controversial from the start, with objections raised over his salary package, his handling of the airline’s shift to the new T3 terminal at the Delhi airport and more recently over his frequent foreign trips.

When contacted, Baldauf declined to speak to DNA Money.
Baldauf was appointed by a committee, headed by the then civil aviation secretary M Madhavan Nambiar, in June last year.

He subsequently brought in his team — Pawan Arora as COO of Air India Express and Stefan Sukumar as chief of training.

Arora has already been sacked and Sukumar is believed to have resigned.