The National Aviation Company of India Ltd, that runs the government's flagship carrier Air India, has formally begun looking for a chief operating officer to steer the airline as part of its restructuring plan.
This is the first time that the cash-strapped national carrier is appointing a professional for the post of COO, who would look after the day-to-day flight and related operations of the carrier and report to CMD Arvind Jadhav.
So far, the airline has been managed by a CMD who has generally been an IAS officer.
In an advertisement today, the airline said the COO would be part of the top management team and oversee the overall operational performance of the company, including engineering, inflight, and operations of the company.
Going by the advertisement, the ideal candidate should be part of the top management of a public or private company with over 15 years of experience and in the age group of around 45 to 50 years.
"Preference would be given to those who are in the Aviation Industry or in the past had turned around performance of a large organisation with manpower strength of at least 10,000," the advertisement said.
The remuneration package would be negotiable based on qualification and experience. The COO given a performance linked pay based on KPI (Key Performance Indicators) which will be determined by the board of the airline.
The hunt for the position comes amid restructuring exercise being taken by the airline on the back of falling market share and mounting losses.
The airline has an equity base of Rs 145 crore (Rs 1.45 billion0 and a debt of around Rs 16,000 crore (Rs 160 billion) and is seeking equity infusion from
the government.
It has accumulated losses of Rs 7,200 crore (Rs 72 billion) in the last two financial years.
