At this stage, I would like to take time off from talking about my tenure with Air Mauritius and speak of what was going on in Air-India during this period.

Hari Kaul had moved from New York (R.D. - North America) to Bombay and taken over as Commercial Director.  His tenure was cut short because of reasons which I will not dwell upon but should be known to many.  He was transferred as head of the Planning Department and Harish Malik took over as Commercial Director.

I met Harish on one of my visits to Bombay and soon realized that there was no great love between him and Rajen Jetley.  The latter was a “hands on” Manager and wanted to be involved in the day to day affairs of the Commercial Department.  At the same time, Harish did not endear himself to his deputies whom he treated as subordinates and did not build a team.

Jetley took full advantage of this state of affairs and had one, if not two, C.Ms. “in his pocket”.  I was confidentially informed that based upon what he had been led to believe, Harish Malik took a calculated decision and put in his papers with the hope that his “benefactors” would be working behind the scenes to oust Rajan Jetley.  Unfortunately for Harish, matters did not work out and he was left out in the cold

Harish set up his own Company handling cargo charters and tied up initially with TCI. He was later associated with Naresh Goyal and I met him and T.K. Pillai in Frankfurt when they were on a market survey of Europe.  I happened to be in that city to attend a meeting between MK and Lufthansa. 

It was on that occasion that Nari Dastur made a statement to me which read something to the effect that “finally someone has taken TCI for a ride”.  It was a reflection on how TCI took great advantage of their relationship with Mr. Dastur to the detriment of other Indian Travel Agents.  I believe I have spoken about this in one of my earlier Posts.

With Harish Malik out of the scene, I think we all know of at least two other Commercial Directors who served at the pleasure of Rajan Jetley.  They were pure “Yes men” and here I will take the liberty of repeating what I have written in one of my earlier Posts.

I received a telephone call from Ranga Rao who quite bitterly told me that he had lost his opportunity to become C.D. entirely because my no “yes men/women” policy had worked against him.  He said that he was in line for the post of Commercial Director but was sidelined and was informed by Rajen Jetley, the then M.D. that he (Ranga) was not going to get the post because he was not a “yes man”.  His (the M.D.)’s need was for a Yes Man and Ranga was not going to “fit the bill”.  

I told Ranga that while I sympathized with his predicament, I was still of the view that my policy had helped Air-India.  We had people who were encouraged to speak up and gave him the names of a number of such persons (including himself); the result of which had been to the benefit of the airline.

I am firmly of the view that I could not have achieved what I did during my tenure with Air-India if I had group of yes men/women.  I encouraged my staff to speak forthrightly and give me opinions which helped in formulating decisions by which we benefitted.  It became a team effort in the airline’s favor.  It is true that some of my successors did not have the same view and because of this, I can name (but will not do so), a number of Commercial Directors who did not have a team because of which the airline has lost out.

I believe Rajan Jetley left Air-India before his term was to expire but not before he made a very important decision with a large financial impact.  From what I was given to understand by more than one insider, this decision helped to justify his appointment by the politicians who supported it.

The decision was to change Air-India’s image by not only eliminating the Centaur, but also to repaint the exterior of the aircraft in an all-white color and replace the beautifully decorated panels in the interior of the aircraft.  In addition, the crockery, cutlery and various other items were changed.  

I was also informed that this change was recommended by Landor Associates, Inc. and the amount paid by Air-India was $35 million.

In my Post dated July 26, 2016, I wrote about a proposal from Landor Associates, Inc. to change Air-India’s image and I quote below the relevant extract:

“I met their representatives and they gave me an excellent presentation, but I was personally not happy to move away from our Maharajah and his promise to offer the highest quality of service.  Landor felt that with the change in Government from the Congress to the Janata party, it may be the opportune moment for Air-India to also offer a new image to the traveling public.  I asked and was told that the total cost to AI would be $7 million compared to $35 million that BA had paid them.

I promised to discuss their proposal with my CEO and get back to them.  On my return to Bombay, I spoke with Mr. Appusamy who agreed with my views and I informed Peter to tell Landor that we would take a “pass” on their proposal.”

It is interesting to note that for the same changes, Rajan Jetley agreed to pay a sum five (5) times higher than what was quoted to me. Even accounting for inflation, the figure of $35 million appears way too high and is mind boggling.

When Mr. Appusamy was the M.D., we had two deputies - CL Sharma and myself.  CL was in charge of Finance and Administration, while the portfolios under my charge were Commercial, Planning, Inflight Services and Ground Handling.  Operations and Engineering reported directly to Mr. Appusamy.

Druba Bose was the Operations Director and was very keen to be appointed as a 3rd Dy. MD incharge of Technical Services, but Mr. Appusamy did not feel happy with such an appointment and because of this, he had asked me to take additional charge of Ground Handling.

This situation remained unchanged when Mr. BS Das took over as MD.  When Raghu Raj took over as CMD, Druba Bose raised this issue with him and Raghu Raj indicated to both CL and myself, that pressure was being brought on him by Pranab Mukherjee to make the change.  In addition, he was also asked to transfer Inflight Services under the 3rd Dy. MD.  The Bengali connection was making a move.

I left AI less than a year after Raghu Raj came on the scene and his task became easier as this caused a vacany and Druba took over as Dy. MD.  When I met CL a few months later, I told him to “watch out”.  He had better make some serious contacts with the powers that be in Delhi or be left out when RR left.  The situation remained unchanged when Rajan Jetley took over from RR, but changed with his departure.

Druba’s opportunity came when Rajan Jetley left and and it became quite clear to CL that his opportunity to become MD was slipping away.  He decided to leave and joined the Tata Group as head of their European Organization, taking over from Manek Dalal in London.

As I write this Post, I learnt with great sorrow that Francis DaGama has passed away.  Francis and I joined AI at about the same time and we grew up together in the airline.  I have very fond memories of our association.  At the time I left AI, he was our R.D. for the Middle East based in Dubai.  Our paths did not cross but he called me on two occasions when he was a little perturbed. 

He was receiving instructions to undertake some tasks which he did not feel should take place because they “smelt of corruption”.   My advice to him was to reject them unless such instructions were in writing.  

Another old colleague is no more.  I can count on my fingertips a small number who joined AI about the time I did, who are still with us.