In Ilker Ayci, Tatas find a surprise pilot to fly Air India

 

Tatar, which recently took over Air India, has appointed Milker Ayci as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). ACI, a Turkish citizen, was born in Istanbul in 1971 and was the head of Turkish Airlines from 2015 until the end of January 2022.

The appointment is surprising as Ayci does not have an aviation heritage like the other names believed to be in the running for headquarters. . Starting his career in 1994, he held several positions at Burstein Glacial A., ​​Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Universal Dis Ti caret A., respectively, then he served as General Manager of Basal Sorta A. (General Insurance Company) between the 2005 and 2006, then at Guns Sorta AS (Insurance Services Company) between 2006 and 2011. In January 2011, he was appointed Chairman of the Republic of Turkey Investment Support and Promotion Agency, which is the official promotional organization of Turkey.

Investment opportunities to the global business community and to provide investment assistance before, during and after entering Turkey. In February 2013, he was appointed Vice President of the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies and, in January 2014, President. In 2015, he took over as chairman of Turkish Airlines after serving on its board for just one year. Later, he was appointed General Manager of the Group and MD, a position he held until last month. At the end of 2021, Turkish Airlines served 328 destinations in 128 countries.

Ayci oversaw a significant expansion of the airline. Expansion took place in nearly 70 airports and 20 additional countries during his tenure. He also presided over an incredible increase in the fleet. The airline had 249 planes in 2014, it's 372 today! The airline has the distinction of serving more airports from a single airport (Istanbul) than any other airline in the world! Apart from being a member of the Star Alliance like Air India, Turkish Airlines also holds stakes in other airlines and companies which have all passed to Ayci as Group CEO! From the TATA Group's perspective, it seems the board wanted to invest in someone who is young, has experience in expansion and had a stable previous inning which, with Milker ACI, was at the bar for seven years, all involved in planning for expansion and growth. . Main Challenges More often than not, what was seen as a challenge in the case of Air India, it is the unions that are strong.

There has been no union action so far, and the union's repeated warnings to restore pre-covid wages has been a contentious issue. Merging various entities where people are unionized, non-unionized, permanent and contracted is a difficult task. Moreover, in a company where seniority issues persist even a decade or more after the merger of Indian Airlines and Air India, another merger could make matters worse. As these challenges are not enough, the whole lineup loses money, the highest being Air India.

Vistula and AirAsia India never made money from the start, although the latter should have started making money within a year! Improving flight services, upgrading hardware, expanding the network are just some challenges the new CEO faces. If the group decides to merge AirAsia India with Air India or Air India Express, it would be a task additional. Integration is a shorter task, The long-term fleet plan is essential, and it would be an opportune time to place an order to refurbish its B777s and add them to the B787s. Milker Ayci, 51, still has a long way to go in his career.

He's only had one stint with the airline and has no turnaround experience. Globally, while all airlines are going through challenges around profitability and regulations in COVID times, Air India is probably the most challenging assignment around. Not only will he have to steer Air India and Air India Express, but he will also have to work towards looking at the future of AirAsia India and Vistara. Ilker Ayci would find himself in the middle of so many challenges, that he can virtually start from anywhere to clean up! The journey will be long, arduous but one which the entire industry is eagerly waiting to see!

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