Govt starts scouting for a new head of Air India

NEW DELHI: The government has set up a search panel to scout for a head of the newly-merged Air India, with the term of the incumbent Vasudeva Thulasidas expiring early next year.
   
The search panel is headed by Cabinet Secretary K Chandrashekhar and comprises Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Secretaries in the Civil Aviation Ministry and Department of Personnel and Training and Chairman of the Public Enterprises Selection Board, official sources said here.
   
The first meeting of this committee would be held on Wednesday, the sources said.
   
Thulasidas, who is credited with guiding the smooth merger of the two national carriers Air India and India, retires on March 31 next year.

Before joining the Civil Aviation Ministry, Thulasidas, a 1972 batch IAS officer of the Tripura cadre, was one of the longest-serving Chief Secretaries of the state.
   
He took over the reins of Air India from then Civil Aviation Secretary K Roy Paul in December 2003.
   
But before his term ended, his contract was extended in December 2006 to facilitate the merger of Indian and Air India, which was successfully concluded earlier this year.

The government formally constituted the board of National Aviation Company of India Ltd (NACIL), a company born out of the merger, on September 18, appointing Thulasidas as its Chairman and Managing Director.