Rajiv Bansal takes over as Air India chief

NEW DELHI: Senior IAS officer Rajiv Bansal on Thursday took additional charge as Air India chairman, with Ashwani Lohani taking over as Railway Board chairman. Bansal, an IAS officer of Nagaland cadre, will hold additional charge as AI chairman for three months and is currently additional secretary and financial advisor in the ministry of petroleum and natural gas.
Bansal, a civil engineer from IIT Delhi, has in the past served as director in the aviation ministry and was on the board of directors of National Aviation Company of India Ltd— the short-lived name of Air India and Indian Airlines after the two were merged in 2007. He has also been on the board of Alliance Air.
After taking over, Bansal held meetings with senior AI officials. He said: “I feel happy and proud to be given this opportunity to lead the national carrier. The company has been growing from strength to strength - inducting new aircraft and introducing new routes. We will plan to work on profitability with a missionary zeal, improve our On Time Performance and ensure customer satisfaction. I seek the support of all fellow Indians to fly Air India our national carrier - Air India Truly Indian!”
An IAS officer from the Nagaland Cadre of 1988 batch, IITian Bansal has a Diploma in Finance from ICFAI, Hyderabad and an Executive Masters in International Business from IIFT, New Delhi.
His appointment comes at a time when the government has decided to privatise AI and the modalities of the same are being worked out. That process will go on and the change of guard at AI will not impact the same, said sources.