Board of Directors decide to dispense with the services of Pawan Arora who joined in October with a salary of Rs 1.2 crore a year

Air India sacks COO

Board of Directors decide to dispense with the services of Pawan Arora who joined in October with a salary of Rs 1.2 crore a year

Controversial Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Air India Express, Pawan Arora, has been sacked. The Air India Board which met in Mumbai on Thursday, decided to let go of the officer who has been in the news for the past two months.

On Wednesday, MID DAY had carried a report stating that the Air India CMD, Arvind Jadhav and newly appointed Chief operating officer, Air India, Gustav Baldauf had kept Air India Board and Civil Aviation ministry and other related committees in the loop prior to making these appointments. However, the CMD was under attack for making these appointments.

Regarding another controversial appointment of Stefan Sukumar as the airline's Chief of Training, the Board decided to set up a committee to study the procedural aspects of his entry, directing that a report on the matter be submitted within a fortnight.

The board, however, approved the appointment of Kamaljeet Rattan as the Chief Information Officer, official sources in the Air India said.

Independent directors of the airline and unions had opposed these appointments, not only on procedural grounds, but also on the "huge" pay packages they were offered by the ailing national carrier at a time when it was delaying the payment of salaries and allowances to its employees.

What'sthe fuss

The controversy over Arora's appointment as Air India Express COO erupted following reports that he had not qualified as the Flight Operations Instructor in DGCA. It was also reported that appointment letter of Arora was issued even before the Board had approved it at its September 27 meeting. Arora was previously with Jet Airways and Kingfisher among other airlines after he left the IAF.
Similarly, the selection of Stefan Sukumar as Chief of Training came under scrutiny following reports that he was an instructor for Airbus A-300 and A-310 aircraft, both of which are not in Air India's fleet which is dominated by Boeing B-777s and Airbus A-320s.

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