Alex Cruz Air India CEO?
Air India may get Alex Cruz as its CEO, The Times of India reported. Cruz is an aviation veteran with rich experience of heading both full service and low cost airlines. 55-year-old Cruz was chairman and CEO of British Airways for about five years till 2020. Before that he headed Spanish low cost Vueling.
British Airways had in October 2020 cut 13,000 jobs. Cruz had then stepped down as the airline’s chief executive and a transition period gave up as chairman too. His LinkedIn profile shows he is currently an investor, board member and adviser on some companies. An MS in industrial engineering from Ohio State University, Cruz is also a professor at the IESE Business School, the report said.
Much needed revamp
The Tata Group last week took over Air India and is learnt to be finalising a team of top notch professionals to revive the airline. The new board of AI is likely to be led by Tata Group chairman N Chandrasekaran himself.
Tatas is now running AI, AI Express, Vistara and AirAsia India. It is not clear whether there will be three airlines — one low cost by merging AI Express and AirAsia India; AI and Vistara — or two — a mega AI that merges the two LCCs and Vistara — is not yet known, the report said. Vistara will remain a separate entity till Singapore Airlines, 49 per cent stakeholder in it, agrees to a merger with AI.
