In one of my earlier posts, I spoke about the time when I missed a flight on which my boss was also traveling.  Well, the opposite has also happened.

Mr. Dastur and I were scheduled to visit Tehran and the Iranair flight was scheduled to depart at 00:10hrs.  I got to the airport in good time and at around 23:30, the Duty Manager came to me and enquired if Mr. and Mrs. Dastur were definitely traveling.  I replied in the affirmative and at my request, he called Mr. Dastur at his residence.  They were just about to leave for the airport.  Apparently, he had misread the departure time as 01:10hrs.

I took the flight as we had meetings scheduled in Tehran not to mention a Reception for selected VIPs.  The Dasturs arrived two days later.

KK Menon, the then RM - Middle East and Lalit Khosla, the then Manager - Iran met me on arrival and I apprised them of the change in plans.  It was too late to reschedule the Reception and hence, I stood in the receiving line and greeted each guest with the words “I am standing in for Mr. Dastur, who could not make the trip due to unforeseen circumstances”.  After some time, I decided - what difference does it make,  No one knows me here in Iran and I pretended to be Nari Dastur and shook every guest’s hand on arrival at the Reception.

When I took over as CM - Marketing & Sales, one of the first instructions given to me by Mr. Dastur was that while I had the authority to say “Yes”, I could not say “No” to any request from the field.  Little did I realize how problematic this would become when it soon became apparent that the staff in the  entire European Region had become accustomed to getting everything they asked for as Mr. Dastur could not, and did not, deny them any request.

It took me a long time to convince Mr. Dastur with specific examples that his “lily white” European staff were not always in the right.  However, once I achieved this step, I had no problem as these very staff knew that they could no longer go over my head.

This brings to mind a dinner at Avinash Mahajan’s apartment when one junior Department Head accused Mr. Dastur of his inability to say “no”, particularly to the European stations.  Mr. Dastur took great umbrage at this accusation and the entire evening looked at becoming a disaster until Avi and I separated the two individuals and tempers cooled down.

The many years that I spent working with Mr. Dastur gave me great insight on this “failing” of his.  He was a man of great compassion and unfortunately, many of his staff took advantage of it.  There was the case of one Manager whose daughter had a defect in her heart at birth and he took advantage of this situation to ensure that his overseas posting was not interrupted.  He never came back to India and eventually managed to get transferred to Australia before his retirement.

Mr. Dastur could never see any child suffer and I remember the day when Godfrey Creado came to me in tears with the news that his son had become blind in one eye and was in danger of losing the other one.  I took him to Mr. Dastur who promptly told me to transfer Godfrey to New York for his son’s treatment which I did. 

Even I received special treatment when one day Mr. Dastur came back from a Management Committee meeting to tell me that I would be getting a chauffeur the next morning.  I had been diagnosed by doctors with a problem with my heart and he did not want me to drive my car any more.  I was Deputy C.D. at that time and was not entitled to a driver, but he got Management to make an exception for me.

Mr. Dastur had many great ideas among which was the introduction of Cruises and Air-India embarked upon  a joint venture to offer cruises in the Indian market.  Unfortunately, the timing was just not right and the project was a failure.  Another was the “soiree” that Air-India organized with top music teams who came from all over the world to entertain Indian audiences. We received considerable publicity from this event.

His “failing”, or rather, his inability to say “no” was taken advantage of by TCI who had his ear to their demands and I was approached by many top Indian Agents who felt discriminated against.  Interestingly, it was many years later when we had both left AI and were working with Air Mauritius, that he confessed to me that TCI had taken advantage off his close relations with their senior partners.  

However, he was “delighted” to see that someone had finally taken advantage of TCI.  He was referring to a joint venture between a former AI Commercial Director and TCI to operate Cargo Charters.

Early into his tenure as Commercial Director, Mr. Dastur was approached by Rogers & Company, our GSA in Mauritius to take a financial interest in Air Mauritius.  Dede Maingard, the Chairman of Rogers & Co and Air Mauritius was keen to get the three major airlines (AF, AI and BA) operating to Mauritius to become shareholders in the airline.  

Mr. Dastur convinced the AI board to take an 8% interest in MK and once this came through, Mr. Dastur became a Board member of the airline and took considerable interest in the growth of this airline.  It was many years later that I asked him and he admitted that his initiative was part of his long-term plan.  

His main objective was to be come the CEO of Air-India, but when Mr. Appusamy was appointed M.D., he (Mr. Dastur) realized that he may not be able to achieve this objective as he was nearing his retirement age.  Accordingly, he went to his long-term plan, took early retirement and joined Air Mauritius as its Regional Head for Europe.  More on that later.

However, on one of my visits to Geneva, Mr. Dastur expressed his unhappiness with Mr. Appusamy’s decision to take early retirement.  He told me at great length, the problems that Mr. JRD Tata had to overcome before Government agreed to the appointment of Mr. Appusamy as M.D. Incidentally, the book “AS AIR-INDIANS REMEMBER” reveals, in detail, this entire episode and what took place behind the scenes. 

In one of my earliest Blogs, I have spoken about the early retirements of both Mr. Dastur and Mr. Appusamy and had mentioned the latter’s advice to me to look for another job since, in his words “the culture is changing and you will not fit into it”.  I told Mr. Dastur of this incident and that the change in the atmosphere in Delhi was the main cause behind Mr. Appusamy’s decision to leave.  I don’t know if I was able to get the point across but I left my meeting with Mr. Dastur with the feeling that he was not entirely happy with this decision. 

In any event, Mr. Dastur’s decision to join Air Mauritius was good for him in the long term as he continued working till he was well into his 80s.  As indicate above, more on this later.

In my assignment as CM - Marketing & Sales,  I interacted with a number of Agents and Tour Operators, particularly with Indian Agents and was a regular participant at the annual convention of the Indian Travel Agents (TAAI). I was very fortunate to not only get to know many of them, I established very close friendships with some of them.

Of particular note, were the Asif Dewejee, Netra Rana, Vinoo Ubhaykar, Gautam Khanna, Inder Sharma, Jimmy Guzder, Adi and Nari Katgara and Tej Sahni.  

1. Asif was the Manager of the Bombay (Western India) office of SITA whose owner was Inder Sharma.  Asif was a very colorful character and got “roped in” by a group of ladies who were spouses of men in the travel industry.  These ladies held “kitty parties” every month and they “invited” Asif to become a member.  Each month, one of the ladies would host a lunch at her home.  When Asif’s turn came, the ladies insisted on his hosting the lunch at the Rendezvous, Bombay’s top rated restaurant.  To his credit, Asif gladly paid the bill.
2. Once Asif got to know me, he approached me and said that he wanted to set up his own agency.  He had excellent contacts in the Bohra community and had cornered a substantial segment of this market for SITA.  He also wanted to get involved in the labor market traveling to the Gulf as he had contacts with some of the recruiters.  He asked for my advice and I supported his desire and helped in the initial stages of setting up ABC Travels.
3. Asif and his brother Kasim liked horse racing and they had a box at the Bombay Race Course.  Manju was and still is fond of horse racing and once a year, we accompanied Asif and Kasim to the races.  It was either New Year’s Day or Republic Day and Asif would pick us up in his car and we would spend an enjoyable day at the races.  One day, Asif arrived in a white Mercedes.  It was not new, but in excellent condition.  I complimented Asif on his new acquisition little knowing what was in store for me.
4. February 10 is my birthdate and lo and behold, the bell rang at our front door on that date and Asif’s chauffeur stood here with an envelope in his hand.  The envelope contained a birthday card and the keys to the Mercedes.  I informed the chauffeur that he should take the car back to Mr. Dewjee.  He refused stating that he had been instructed to deliver the car to me and that it was standing below my apartment.  I asked him to wait and called Asif.  Karim answered stating that Asif was in Poona (now Pune).  I explained to Kasim that as an employee of Air-India, a Government owned entity, I could not accept such an expensive gift.  Karim replied that he could not interfere in his brother’s affairs, but reluctantly agreed to get the chauffeur to bring back the car and that he would raise the issue with Asif when he returned.
5. The next day, Asif showed up at our apartment and said that I had “insulted” his friendship by refusing to accept a gift given with affection.  I explained to him that I could lose my job if I accepted such an expensive gift to which he replied “in that case, I will not drive the car again.”  He placed the car in his garage and removed the tires.  It is a matter of record that he never drove the car again and it lay in his garage and rusted till it had to be removed to the junk heap.
6. When I left Air-India and migrated to the USA, Asif was heartbroken.  He refused to accept that he would lose a very dear friend.  I told him that I had no plans to disappear and would visit India regularly.  He made me promise that I would call him first thing on my visits to India.  I kept this promise and we spent one evening on each of my visits to Bombay until he passed away.  He was a very dear friend with a very large heart and his passing away left a deep void in my life.
7. Gautam Khanna, Inder Sharma, Vinoo Ubhaykar, Jimmy Guzder, Adi and Nari Katgara were the stalwarts and the core of the Indian Travel Industry and I learnt a great deal from my association with them.  Tej Sahni invited me to open the new office of Mercury Travels and then decided to branch out on his own like Asif Dewjee and started Vista Travels.  He and I became close friends particularly after I left India and I depended upon him for assistance whenever Manju and I visited India.
8. Netra Rana and Rajni were our first guests when we arrived in the USA.  This reminds me of a visit of Netra when Air-India arranged a limousine for him to come to our house in Scarsdale.  I gave Air-India our address - 26 Leatherstocking Lane - and we waited for his arrival.  The phone rang and it was Netra calling from the house of a diplomat living in Westchester County.  He said that the driver could not find No. #26 Leatherstocking lane.  I told him the it was the last house on the lane and that he could not miss it.  He answered that he was at No. #22 and that was the last house.
9. I was perplexed and asked him to put the diplomat on the phone.  This gentleman confirmed that indeed his house was the last one on Leatherstocking Lane.  The mystery was solved when he added that he lived in the adjoining town of Mamaroneck.  What a coincidence - two adjoining towns with an identical Lane with a name like “Leatherstocking”.  
10. I told Netra to request the driver of his Limo to take Mamaroneck Lane and go west.  This road intersects with our Lane and I would be waiting for him at the crossing.  Guess what, I had another phone call - this one from the White Plains Police Station.  The driver had taken Mamaroneck Road and not Lane and ended up in White Plains.  This time, I told the driver to meet me at Scarsdale Police Station where I finally caught up with Netra Rana.
11. The story does not end here.  A few months late, Netra came again to the USA and was staying in Manhattan.  This time, he was dining with us and took a taxi and told the driver to take him - not to 26 Leatherstocking Lane in Scarsdale, but to Scarsdale Police Station.  I met him there and brought him home.

Those were memorable days and I refer to my associations with the India Travel Agents, with many of whom I have built long lasting friendships.

My tenure as CM - Planning lasted from December 1968 to October 1972 when the Commercial and Planning Departments were reorganized.

At this time, I want to mention a change in Service conditions which came about during this period.  One of the greatest perks of working in Air-India was First Class travel and at that time, such a privilege was given to those staff members who were in the SSM grade and above.  I had reached this grade in 1967 and it coincided with my mother’s visit from Delhi.  The first thing I did was to call Mr. Venkataraman, then Manager Northern India and ensure that she traveled in the First Class from Delhi to Bombay.  She felt very proud that her son had (as she said) “finally made it”.

Unfortunately, this perk was withdrawn for staff based in India sometime in the early 1970s and for the life of me, I cannot remember the exact reason.  I do recall that it had something to do with a tax imposed by the Indian Government for First Class travel. My memory is a bit fuzzy on this issue and I would welcome anyone enlightening me with the exact reason.

The upshot of this new tax was that AI would have to pay this tax whenever any staff member traveled in F/cl whether on duty or on leave.  Management decided that AI would not pay this tax and so all of us in the grade of SSM and above were required to travel in Economy class.  A short time later, Top Management decided that AI would pay the tax whenever members of the Management Committee were to travel.  This would include only the M.D., Asst. M.D and Functional Directors.  

Anyone in the grade of Dy. C.D. or equivalent and below could travel in F/cl if he or she agreed to pay this tax.  The Pilots were up in arms and threatened to go on strike.  At first, Management did not relent but after a number of years, the tax was revoked  and I would once again, request some light being thrown on this issue as I am unable to recall complete details.  Old age is definitely having an effect upon me.

During my days as Commercial Manager – Marketing & Sales, I was flying from London back to Bombay.  Since only members of the Management Committee were entitled to travel First Class, being “middle management”, I was sitting in the rear of the 747 aircraft, but, thanks to the machinations of friends like Godfrey Creado and Norris Baptista, I had the luxury of 3 seats to myself.

After an intermediate stop in Geneva, the In-flight Supervisor informed me that the Chairman had joined the flight and had instructed him NOT to serve lunch to Mr. Sethi; the instruction being delivered most emphatically.  Sure enough, lunch was served to all the passengers around me and I was left alone.

Shortly after all meal trays had been cleared, the curtain separating the First Class Cabin from Economy Class opened and Mr. Tata walked though, came to my row of seats and told me to “move over” which I dutifully did.  He sat next to me and instructed the crew to serve lunch to both of us.  We both ate an Economy Class meal and sat down to a very serious discussion.

Mr. Tata told me that he had heard a rumour that I was contemplating reducing the seat pitch in the Economy Class cabin by increasing the number of rows.  Seat pitch is the distance between the backs of the seats in two consecutive rows.

I advised him that the rumour was indeed true but that no consensus had been reached.  I also mentioned that increasing the number of seats would increase capacity and in turn, reduce the “break-even” load factor.

Mr. Tata told me that yes, economics should always be a determining factor, but in his mind, passenger comfort was a more important issue.  He went on to explain his long held views that his primary objective of “quality of service” should not be compromised.  This should be foremost in our minds as it made Air-India what it was – one of the finest airlines in the world.

Mr. Tata went on to state that if we had unutilized space in the aircraft, he would rather that we put in an additional toilet which would add to the comfort of the passengers.

Guess what - on my return to work, I reminded my colleagues of this primary objective and disbanded the committee which was looking at the issue of additional capacity.

I cannot comment on the quality of service now being offered in Air-India but would only state that during my career with the airline, this objective of Mr. Tata was always foremost in my mind and with great humility and at the same time, pride, I quote below an extract from an email that literally came out of the blue sometime in 2009:

EX-AIRNDIAN THANKS YOU

Dear Mr Sethi

I just wanted to remind myself of the fact how great our Air India was during your Management days.  I am very proud to have worked under you, and you pushed the standard of Inflight Service to a new height,

30 years of happy times and a bonus DY Manager IFSD title, I voluntarily retired and migrated to Western Australia.(1989)

But this is just a gratitude and rememberance of that time.

For me I would like to remember that tall stately quiet person who made changes for the better for Air India.

I wish you well and thank you once again.

Yours sincerely

PJ Mahuvawalla

When Mr. Kooka retired and Mr. Dastur took over as Commercial Director in 1972, the Planning Department once again became an independent entity with Venkat as its head as Dy. Director - Planning & International Relations.  The one major change was that the Tariffs Division came out and continued to be part of my portfolio in my new assignment as Commercial Manager - Marketing & Sales.  I had finally achieved my objective to get back into the Commercial Department with an eye on the job of C.D.

This change in assignment was a major watershed in my career.  Where I had previously traveled all over the world attending IATA and Revenue Pool meetings, I now traveled to study the functioning of our offices and the problems they faced in getting passengers to travel on Air-India.  I visited, for the rest time, outposts such as Fiji, Mauritius and Vancouver in addition to East Africa, The Far East and the Middle East which were areas that I had never traveled to.

It was on one of these trips that I was informed that back home in India, there was a move to appoint a General Sales Agent (GSA) to sell traffic from the Punjab to the U.K.  This move came as a great surprise since we had a GSA in the U.K. who was already selling this traffic and it was one of the reasons for his appointment.  For the uninitiated, most of the Punjab and Haryana originating traffic was, at that point of time, paid for in the U.K.

I was also informed that a decision for this appointment was imminent and that a proposal had been sent by the Manager Northern India to the Deputy Commercial Director and also that it had the full backing of the Regional Director - India.  I sent an urgent telex to the Dy. C.D requesting that no decision be made until the proposal had been studied by me and the Marketing Division.  At the same time, I curtailed my trip and returned to Bombay.

On arrival, I met the Dy. C.D. who told me that he had taken the decision to appoint the GSA.  I questioned the urgency of this decision as the matter fell within my portfolio and any such appointment should have been cleared with me prior to taking a decision.  I advised Mr. Dastur of my unhappiness with this clear breach of etiquette and he agreed to hold a meeting with all present.

The meeting was held in Mr. Dastur’s office and those present were the Dy. CD, the RD-India, Manager - Northern India and myself.  It came out that the Manager - Northern India had been approached by a clerk in the office of the GSA for Air France (AF).  The GSA was actually owned by the clerk’s uncle.  AF had been in the North India market for some time and this clerk who, incidentally, would in later years become the CEO of his own airline, had handled this traffic and as such was (in the opinion of the Manager - Northern India) ideally suited to produce traffic for Air-India.

The Manager - Northern India was so impressed by this clerk that he gave him authority to go ahead with the spade work of opening an office in Delhi.  He then cleared the idea with the RD - India and sent a proposal to the Dy.CD.  I asked why there had been so much haste and why was the proposal not sent to me in the first place?

Imagine my astonishment when the Manager - Northern India confessed that he was aware that I would have turned down the proposal and that he had taken advantage of my absence from Bombay to present the proposal directly to the Dy. CD.  He further confessed that his main objective was to take credit for the revenue produced.  In other words, U.K.’s legitimate revenue credit would have been diverted to Northern India.

Mr. Dastur asked one question and that was directed to the Dy. CD - was the Dy. CD convinced that this appointment would produce substantially additional revenue for Air-India?  There was stunned silence when the Dy. CD stated that he had not looked at this aspect of the proposal.  He had accepted the Manager - Northern India’s word that AI would benefit from this appointment.

I raised two issues.  Firstly, the net effect would be a confrontation between the GSA in the U.K. and the GSA in Northern India as they would be competing for the same market segment.  In my view, the main problem was that the Northern India offices were servicing this traffic (Paid for in the U.K.) and were not getting any credit for such services.  This was, in my opinion, the root of the problem and the reason why the Manager - Northern India was pushing for the appointment.

Secondly, and more importantly, since most of the payments for this traffic were made in the U.K., how was the Northern India GSA going to account for the sales without violating Reserve Bank regulations?  It was quite apparent to me that some of the participants in this meeting were unaware of the manner in which AF and some of the Middle East airlines were handling such payments, which were well known in the market as “Hawala” payments.

If this clerk were to be appointed as the GSA, he would continue the practices of his current employer, leaving Air-India wide open to RBI sanctions.

Mr. Dastur stated that as the latter issue raised by me had so much substance and validity that he had no alternative but to terminate the meeting and that there would be no GSA in Northern India.

Although I had succeeded in my mission, I felt little joy as it brought into the open, discords which had been festering below the surface.  Secondly, the meeting did not end until after 9:00pm and I missed my younger son’s birthday party.  A couple of days later, Mr. Dastur told me in confidence that there was unhappiness among some of my colleagues with my return to the Commercial Department.  However, he assured me that I had his complete backing; an assurance and backing which became evident with my later appointments as Dy. C.D. and C.D.

It was, therefore, a great surprise when a couple of weeks later, the Dy. C.D. brought this young clerk, who had initiated the proposal, to my office.  The young man confessed that he had spent a considerable sum of his own money in the anticipation of opening his own office.  Additionally, he had upset his uncle who was now very unhappy with this move.

He requested my assistance in getting him some work as he was now unemployed.  The Dy. C.D. felt morally committed to help the clerk.  I told him that under the circumstances, I, personally, could not support his desire to work with Air-India but would be willing to get him an introduction to other airlines.  Accordingly, I arranged a meeting with the then Manager of Kuwait Airways who had once indicated to me that they had over 3 tonnes of unutilized cargo space on their daily flights to Kuwait.

I told the young man that there was a considerable movement of vegetables and fruits from India to the Gulf and that without much effort, he could fill three tonnes on Kuwait Airways on a daily basis.  One additional advantage he would have is that there was no discounting on this kind of traffic and once he had established a foothold, he could also service other carriers such as Gulf Air who had more flights than Kuwait Airways.

It is interesting to note that while he accepted this suggestion a little reluctantly, he made such a success of it that in a short while, he had become the GSA for a number of airlines.  He never looked back and in time to come, started his own airline.  I will comment on this airline in a future Blog.

Getting back to the Manager - Northern India’s move to appoint a GSA, it actually came as a surprise because he was Manager - London when the U.K. GSA was appointed and he played quite a large part in the selection of the GSA.  More on this subject at a later time.

 It has been almost two months since my last Post.  Manju and I went on a 10 days cruise along the southern and western Caribbean Sea which took us to Aruba, Cartagena, Panama Canal, Costa Rica and the Cayman Islands.  This was a gift from our children to celebrate our Golden Wedding Anniversary; a gift that we very proudly accepted.

This was a part of the world that I had never visited during my career and I was particularly fascinated by the way the ships move through the Panama Canal.  The locks work with fresh water and not sea water.  There are no pumps.  The water moves through the locks by gravity.  The fresh water comes from the Gatun Lake which is fed and replenished by rain water and the dangers of Climate Change are very apparent.  Fortunately, the Canal is being widened and the new locks will have water pumped into them.

Shortly after returning from our cruise, we left for our home in New Jersey.  We have been maintaining two homes; one in New Jersey for the summer months and one in Florida for the winter months.  While this can be described as an ideal arrangement, there are many problems in maintaining two homes, particularly as we grow older.  

So, after considerable thought, we have decided to sell the New Jersey home.  We spent over 3 weeks sorting out items which we would keep and accommodate in the Florida home.  The rest had to be - very reluctantly - given away.  It was a most traumatic and emotional period as many items had been collected over a period of 50 years, while we lived in India and later in the USA.

Eventually, we managed to make very difficult decisions and after clearing the house, have given it to a Real Estate Agent to sell.  We returned to Florida last week and have just received some of the items that we had given to a Mover to transport to Florida.  Now, to find room for them is going to be a major task as the Florida home is smaller in square foot area.

While we were away, I was delighted to read about Air-India’s two new flights - the first from Delhi to San Francisco and the second from Ahmedabad to London.  I am not going to comment on the economics of such flights.  What has delighted me is the fact that this will result in greater utilization of the fleet; a subject about which I have written in detail in my emails to both the two previous CMDs.

Air-India is an unprofitable airline due to many reasons, some of which are beyond the control of Management.  But, one major reason was the inadequate utilization of the fleet which resulted in a break-even load factor which was almost impossible to achieve.  For many years, we had aircraft sitting at JFK, CHI and EWR for over 12 hours before turning around for the return flights.  

I was present at the Reception that AI gave to announce the non-stop flight from BOM to JFK and was not only astonished but astounded to hear the then Commercial Director very proudly announce that the schedule of the flight had been designed to cater for the High Yield business traffic which would arrive in the early morning from BOM and return the same evening from JFK.  I could not believe my ears.  Was it true that in all my 24 years with the airline, I had not realized that there was such a large number of business class passengers who wanted to return the same day and that too, after a 16 hour flight coming in and before a 14 hour flight going back!!!!

Who were these elusive passengers and hence, I was interested in the actual study that must have been done to come to this conclusion.  I, therefore, asked the then CD if he could elaborate on this decision.  I am sorry to state that this arrogant individual confessed that no such study had been done, but that it was his “hunch” that this was the what the Indian businessman wanted.

I bluntly asked him if this charade was the result of the airline having more aircraft than it needed and Management didn’t know what to do with these aircraft.  He walked away in a huff.

That was many years ago and times have not changed.  AI still has more aircraft than it needs and not only are some standing on ground; some are being cannibalized and some are operating on routes for which they were not designed.

Nonetheless, I am personally very happy with the introduction of the SFO flight.  Way back in 1980, I had sent a detailed Note on trans-Pacific operations to the then CMD, but he took no action.  In preparation of this operation, I had held a number of meetings with the Japanese so that we could get 5th freedom rights. 

However, nothing came of it until I met Mr. Yogi Deveshwar at an IATA AGM in the early 1990s and the subject came up in our discussions.  He showed considerable interest and I requested him to ask his staff to dig up my 1980 Note upon his return to Bombay.  Unfortunately, he did not complete his term and the subject “died” once again.

The current CMD has made an excellent beginning with improving aircraft utilization and I hope he keeps this up.  With the concurrent drop in fuel prices, we may hope to see a much improved financial picture.  However, these steps, by themselves, will not solve Air-India’s long term problems.

In addition to the question of over-staffing is the major issue of Bilateral Traffic rights.  The blatant grant of unlimited flights particularly to the Gulf carriers such as Emirates, Etihad and Qatar will be a big fat thorn in Air-India’s long term future.

This leakage of Air-India’s own 3rd & 4th freedom traffic continues with the recent grant of additional seats to Oman Air, whose CEO made it openly known that the additional capacity would enable the airline to “offer better connections to Europe”.  Oman Air did not need additional capacity to carry India-Muscat passengers.  They wanted and got the right to plunder AI’s rightful traffic.  AND THE INDIAN CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITIES ACTED COMPLICITY IN THIS VENTURE.

The game of golf came into the Air-India sphere around 1969/70.  Nani Mital was Manager - Western India and a keen golfer.  He came to me and suggested an annual Staff Tournament.  He and I went to see Mr. Kooka who welcomed the idea and even offered to donate a revolving Inter-Departmental Trophy.  We then went to see Mr. Unni and convinced him to donate a revolving trophy for the individual winner of the Championship.  He welcomed the idea and we now had the basis for starting this annual event.

The first Tournament was held at the Willingdon Club.  I cannot remember who won the Individual Chanpionship but the inter-department trophy was taken by the Operations Department who, incidentally, went on to win this event every year until 1977.  I was delighted to win the Stableford Tournament in the first tournament and, not only do I still have my trophy, but also a photograph showing Mr. JRD Tata presenting it to me at the dinner held the next evening.

We also had a trophy for the highest score and it went to Mr. Unni who was presented with a book titled “How To Play Golf”.  Unfortunately, Mr. Unni won this trophy for the second time the next year and when the time came to organize the annual  tournament for the 3rd time, Mr. B.S. Rama Rao very wisely suggested to me that if I valued my job and future in the airline, I should ensure that someone else won this particular event.

I called H.S. Oberoi and B.L. Nichani, both of whom had never played the game and prevailed upon them to show up for the tournament.  Nichi came last and took the Wooden Spoon which was the prize for this event and Mr. Rama Rao congratulated me on a job well done.

As mentioned above, the Operations Department took the inter-department trophy each year until 1977 when Saroj Datta and I combined to win it for the Commercial Department for the first time.  This trophy held a prominent place in my office at Nariman Point until I left Air-India.  I wonder who won it after that time.

I have continued to play golf ever since and though the golf ball does not go as far as it used to, my accuracy is still quite evident.  My golfing partners have a nickname for me.  It is Pipeline because I hit the ball straight down the middle of the fairway. I have won a few events at the Ramsey Golf & Country  Club in New Jersey (of which I am a member), including the Presidents Cup in 2013.  I also won the Seniors Trophy (Legends Division) four times, but the one trophy that I prize most is the Father-Son Championship that Sarat and I won at his Club (Winged Foot) in 2013.  The trophy has a prized position at our home in Florida.

When Nani Mital took over as R.D. - USA & Canada, he called me and asked me to join him and a small group to play golf.  I was then working with Kuwait Airways in New York. It was a very nice gesture which I happily accepted.  Our golf group became quite regular and I am happy to state that I am still in touch with some of the original members.  

Nani also invited me to a couple of outings where AI hosted Cargo Agents.  This is where I met and became quite friendly with P. P. Singh who was then the Cargo Sales Manager - USA & Canada.  P. P. and I met quite frequently after he retired whenever I visited India during the winters.  We are still in touch and exchange e-mails.

Nani Mital’s passing away was a sad event.  He was a good friend and one who has helped me in various ways during my career after I left Air-India. 

As mentioned in one of my earlier Blogs, I took over as Commercial Manager - Planning in December 1968.  The Planning team then reported to me in addition to my Tariffs team. One of my first acts was to inform everyone that I valued independent thinking and that I would not be happy with a group of “yes men/women”.  I believe this went down well with a number of the staff.  Saroj Datta, with whom I had lived as a bachelor and I already had a history of arguments and so we continued to have quite lively discussions on matters concerning Pool Agreements.  He had considerable experience on this subject while I brought a fresh mind and so, our evening sessions at Pool meetings in London, Sydney, Moscow and Singapore were very productive.

Neela Talcherkar, who was also part of the Planning (Pool Agreements) team was a very active partner in these discussions.  Then, of course was the Accounts team comprising Pheroze Balaporia (Dy. Financial Director) and Gopalakrishnan who brought in a different perspective.  I am glad to say that in Pheroze Balaporia, we had a very understanding person who appreciated the commercial side of the agreements.

I did have a problem with a senior member of the Planning Division who not only took my “yes men/women” to heart but adopted a negative attitude on many issues, including the acquisition of the 747s.  I received absolutely no assistance from him in preparing the proposal to the Board and he was one whom I had expected to help me the most.  I must give credit to Saroj for helping me out considerably.  I was quite relieved when that senior member resigned to take his interests elsewhere.

It saddened me when almost two decades later, I received a call from Ranga Rao who called to complain that 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 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 not afraid to speak up and gave him the names of a number of such persons and 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 a number of Commercial Directors who did not have a team because of which the airline has not benefitted.

This brings me to an interesting anecdote.  After one of his visits to Delhi, one of our CEOs asked me to transfer a staff from the Delhi to New York as a Sales Representative and I resisted this primarily because no staff should insist on a posting to a particular station.  He or she can request a transfer, but not insist on a particular station,  It was up to his superiors to judge if he/she would be suitable to that post.  Secondly, I felt that this particular staff had the potential for higher responsibilities and should be groomed accordingly.

A few years later, this particular staff did get posted to North America, but the station of posting was Toronto and not NYC.  He called me (I was then working for Air Mauritius in NYC) and spoke with me for a considerable length of time.  He wanted to thank me for not having sent him to NYC where he would have been a mere Sales Representative.  He had learnt considerably since that time and that he had not only taken to heart my policy of not being a “yes man” but had actively practiced it.  His only regret was that he could not achieve his objective - to be one of my proteges. However, he took satisfaction from calling himself “Mr. Sethi’s self appointed protege”.

We had a great laugh and I made it a point to meet and have lunch with him on each occasion that I visited Toronto during his stint at that station.  I did meet him in Delhi many times at the annual AI Retired Executives dinners and am sorry to state that he passed away at a very young age.  He had some very refreshing ideas and was definitely not a “yes man”.  In fact, he sent me copies of some of his Studies of the Canadian market which were quite comprehensive.

There was an interesting development which took place with my appointment as CM-Planning.  My entire Tariffs team was male and I had now inherited a fairly large number of ladies from the Planning Branch.  It became quite apparent to me that dealing with men was much different than dealing with women and I mentioned it to my wife.  Manju decided that it was time that she intervened and without telling me, invited all the women in the Planning Branch for lunch one day at our apartment.

The lunch went on for a number of hours because I could not find any of the women when I asked for them.  At the same time, it must have been a success, because I seldom had a problem after that day.  I guess my wife told them the secret of dealing with me.

The first Pool meeting that I attended was in Sydney and the participants were BA and Qantas.  Before we left for Sydney, I got a call from Tony Pinto who was the Regional Director - Australasia.  Tony told me to bring my golf clubs.  I mentioned that Saroj Datta also played golf and he extended the same invitation to him.  Our meeting in Sydney lasted three weeks and we played golf on about 7 occasions, of which two were during the week.  We had a couple of afternoons off and Tony took us out after telling his Secretary that we were going to call on “18” agents.

I met Axel Khan through Tony Pinto.  Axel was then the Indian Trade Commissioner in Sydney and also played golf.  A very nice gentleman whom I got to know quite well.  We resumed our friendship when he went to Kuwait as the Indian Ambassador.  

Apart from hosting us at golf, Tony and his wife had the entire team over for lunch on at least 3 weekends at their home.  Tony was a good friend and I always invited him to play golf with us whenever he visited Bombay on duty.  I was sorry to see him go when he left Air-India for personal reasons.

Unfortunately, for the Pool team, Tony Pinto’s successor was not as hospitable and we never looked forward to our visits to Sydney during his tenure.  Narpat Singh was the third RD and a member of our golfing group in Bombay.  The good days returned after he took over as the RD in Sydney and continued when Malcolm Barretto took over from Narpat.

In an earlier Blog, I have talked about how with Mr. Kooka’s help, some of us became members of the Bombay Presidency Golf Club.  Narpat also became a member on the same basis when he came to Bombay on a transfer and we had a regular group comprising Narpat, Saroj Datta, Amar Singh and myself.  Amar was the Managing Director of Wyeth, an American Pharmaceutical Company in Bombay and another good friend.  We had some rollicking good times every Saturday on the golf course and off it.  Our group eventually became known at the Golf Club as the “awesome foursome".

Many, many years later when we had all dispersed, Manju and I happened to visit Bombay and were staying at the Taj Mahal Hotel.  The phone rang and a soft voice asked if she and Narpat could come up and see us.  She was Maya, the wonderful wife of Narpat Singh and we welcomed them to join us for tea.  Narpat had retired and was living with his family in Australia.  Unfortunately, he had Parkinsons Disease and his movements were restricted - he had a “walker”.  When he and Maya said goodbye to us, his last words were “remember the awesome foursome.  These were indeed the last words I heard from his mouth, because I later heard from his daughter Rani that my good friend had passed away.

Manju and I were further saddened when Rani sent us an e-mail last month that her mother had also passed away.  It reminded me of the time when I first met her.  I was a very junior member of the AI staff and on a visit to Delhi was invited by Narpat Singh, who was then DSM - Sales, to his home for dinner.  The dinner was cooked by Maya herself and when we got the news of her passing away, it took me back almost 57 years.  Another era of my life has gone by.

Memories are a funny thing.  The string does not seem to end and I am reminded of the time when Ross Stainton, the M.D. of British Airways came for a meeting in Bombay.  His local Manager told Mr. Unni that Ross wanted to play golf and so, the BA team played the AI team for a trophy that BA presented.  The AI team comprised Mr. Unni, Narpat Singh, Saroj Datta and myself.  The tournament was a draw, BA winning one match and AI the other.  We never played this tournament again and I wonder where this trophy is?

I could carry on and on with tales of golf and the afternoons and evenings spent reliving the game.  But since all good things do come to an end, I will stop here

I was pleasantly surprised to read the following item in one of the emails circulated by some of our retired executives.

The airline on Sunday announced :

...... a dedicated program to offer its passengers enhanced cabin experience, with increased emphasis on maintaining high standards of cleanliness and safety on its aircraft. "To be managed by dedicated senior management of ED-level, immediate action will be taken on the feedback shared by the passengers, cabin crew and cabin engineers. Senior executives will undertake surprise checks to monitor and supervise the safety and cleanliness inside and outside the aircraft," said a statement issued by the airline.

I commend the new CMD on his initiative to improve the product that is being offered in the market and hope that he will continue to act in this proactive manner.  I believe I speak on behalf of most of my former colleagues when I say to Mr. Lohani that he has our best wishes and hopes that he will be successful.

And now on a lighter note, has anyone met his “double”?  I have.

On one of my visits to London, Asghar Ali Dharamsey had mentioned to me that he knew a person who looked exactly like me.  I laughed and told him that he was mistaken.  Asghar said that one day, he would introduce us both.

It so happened that I was transiting London on one of my business trips and was planning to stay one night with Asghar.  He received me at LHR and drove me to his home.  While he was parking his car, I entered the living room and saw a young lady sitting there.  She looked up and said “that was pretty quick”.  I must have had a very puzzled expression on my face and so, she kept very quiet.  I introduced myself and now she had a very puzzled look on her face.

Fortunately for both of us, Asghar, accompanied by another person walked in at that moment and I looked at the latter in wonderment.  I thought I was looking at a mirror and so did he.  He happened to be a Pakistani who lived in Europe and the young lady was his fiancee.

What a memorable occasion for both of us and also for his fiancee who said that she had difficulty separating us.  He had gone to fetch his car and she was surprised that he had returned so quickly; hence her earlier remark.

Getting back to the fares between India and the U.K., IATA sent its Traffic Director, H. Don Reynolds to Bombay to convince Air-India to withdraw the Emigrant Fare.  I received Don at the airport.  He spent that day with Jimmy and Shirin Guzder of Indtravels/AirFreight, whom he had known for a long time.

The next day, they dropped him off at my office and we met with Air Marshal Chaturvedi and Mr. Kooka.  Don spoke of the sanctity of the unanimity rule and how Air-India was setting a poor example of disharmony and not using the IATA mechanism of getting agreements by consultations.

We told Don Reynolds that Air-India had followed IATA’s policy to the letter and had fare agreements which were unanimously negotiated.  Air-India had no quarrel with such a rule, but the blatant violations of these agreements by the Arab and Middle East Agreements had rendered the fare agreements a pure paper exercise.  Their market practices, particularly the setting up of GSAs and Consolidators to offer illegal discounts had taken away Air-India’s legitimate 3rd and 4th freedom traffic.

There was no going back, we told Don Reynolds.  

After the meeting in the MD’s office, I took Don back to my office so that he could dictate a “coded” telex to the Director General of IATA and I must digress here to relate an interesting anecdote.  My Secretary, Rao took Don’s dictation and when the latter asked him if his dictation was clear, Rao answered by shaking his head.  Don started to dictate his telex once again and I interrupted him and said that in India, a shake of the head was the same as a nod and signified OK.

Don spent that evening with me before leaving back for Geneva and over dinner, I told him that what we had achieved by the introduction of the westbound Emigrant Fare was only the beginning.  Air-India was going to take this matter right through to its logical conclusion.  Gone were the days when we were willing to spend weeks in long and arduous negotiations only to have the agreements violated by the Arabs and other 6th freedom airlines.

I told Don quite categorically, that the Arabs were not the only culprits.  European carriers, such as KLM and Air France were equally at fault and we could see our legitimate traffic being siphoned off.  In other words, the gloves were now “OFF” and the battle had just begun.

The U.K. originating market was our next target.  We sent a Market Research Team to the U.K. to study the market potential and come up with a plan to get our rightful market share.  The Team was led by Randhir Singh and included Michael Mascarenhas and Kanwal Jasuja.  They spent almost a month and produced a series of recommendations which included not only the establishment of a low round trip fare for the VFR (Visiting Friends & Relatives) market, but also the opening of new offices, such as one in Southhall. 

This Report was discussed at a Top Management meeting and negotiations commenced with the British so that we could jointly sponsor the introduction of such a fare.  Unfortunately, the British declined to agree and we responded by going unilaterally at this market.

Air-India Charters Ltd. (AICL) chartered aircraft from Air-India and commenced operating flights between Delhi and Ostend in Belgium, since we were denied traffic rights by the British.  An agreement was negotiated with British Air Ferries (BAF) to operate flights between Southend in the U.K. and Ostend to connect with the AICL flights.  A consortium of Indian Agents was mobilized to get passengers to travel on the connecting BAF/AICL flights.

The success of this venture was soon proven when the British asked us for talks to introduce  a low round trip fare - low enough so that the 6th freedom operators would have difficulty in undercutting it.  We established such a fare and then to ensure the success of this venture, I suggested to Mr. Kooka, the establishment of an “Ethnic Sales” cell in the U.K. headed by Randhir Singh.  He agreed and I must admit here that I do not believe that even today, Randhir has fully forgiven me for sending him to London.  He had been looking at a posting where he would be head of an online station.

During this entire period, I must have myself traveled a number of times to the U.K.  I met many of the agents that Randhir and his team had cultivated.  We met them at their offices, we had drinks and meals with them in their homes and sang and danced to Indian music in their Living rooms.  In other words, we established very close bonds with this larger team which got Air-India its legitimate share of the Indian ethnic market.  Eventually, at the suggestion of the R. D. - U.K. and Randhir Singh, we appointed a General Sales Agent.

As an interesting aside, I must relate here that when we appointed the GSA, we limited his scope to the Indian ethnic market.  PanAm objected to this stating that the IATA Resolution on GSAs did not allow us to limit the GSAs scope of operations and took us before the IATA Compliance Committee.  Nani Palkiwala, India’s famous lawyer and future Ambassador to the USA, represented us at this hearing.  Joe Andrade and I assisted him, but the ruling was in PanAm’s favor.  However, no penalties were imposed upon us and AI was instructed to open the entire market to the GSA.  While, we accepted this ruling on paper, in practice, however, we continued our restrictions on the GSA.

At Mr. Kooka’s request, T.K. Rao, Manager - Charters and I made a detailed study of the European market to ascertain the potential of operation charters under the AICL Banner.  We toured Western and Northern Europe and submitted our Report which I believe, ended up on a shelf in Mr. Kooka’s office.

To the best of my knowledge, AICL never did get off the ground until quite recently.  After Mr. Kooka, the next Chairman was Nari Dastur and I did take over the reins for a 2 year period from 1978 till I left Air-India in 1980.

Our next major task was the USA - India market.  There were two very important issues here.

First, our Bilaterals with the British.  They insisted that we were carrying far too many 5th freedom passengers and opposed the introduction of the Boeing 747 on the India - U.K. - USA route by Air-India.  We held a number of meetings; all but one of which, I attended.  Throughout these meetings, I had maintained that the existing Bilateral authorized us to substitute any aircraft and that the Indian side should stand firm.  The Indian team was led by the Aviation Secretary, Mr. Narottam Sehgal who, while appreciating my viewpoint, was keen to get an agreement.

However, I was eventually over-ruled and in fact, excluded from the Indian Team at the final meeting with the British.  This meeting came to a successful conclusion and it was agreed that AI could upgrade its equipment provided AI paid to BA a sum of money for each 5th freedom (LON/NYC/LON) passenger carried over a limit, which was pegged at the number being carried at that point of time. This figure could go up as and when the end-to-end India - USA traffic increased.  As a matter of record, this compromise proposal was initiated by Y.Y. Ajila, our Planning Manager.

Mr. Kooka came back from the meeting and called me to his office.  He said that while he appreciated my unhappiness with the agreement, he supported it because time was critical and we could not delay the introduction of the 747s.  At the same time, he said that he had faith in my ability to find a way out of paying this “royalty” to the British.

I promptly gathered my marketing team and we came to the view that we had no choice but to raise the number of FUD (flight uplift/discharge) passengers India - USA and to this end go directly into the U.S. market with a low excursion fare to generate additional traffic.  Accordingly, we proposed the introduction of a $600 fare at the next IATA fares conference.  However, because of the unanimity rule, we could not get the level that we would have ideally liked and had to compromise on a figure, which if memory serves me right, was $650..

We did generate considerable interest in this fare, but our market studies showed that we were being undercut by not only the 6th freedom operators, such as Air France, KLM and Lufthansa but also carriers like Kuwait who in combination with TWA were offering much lower fares in the market.  In fact, on our of our marketing trips to the USA, B.K. Mangaokar and I came across Flyers being distributed among the Indian Student community which offered a fare of $575 from NYC to DEL/BOM on TWA/Kuwait flights over London.

I, therefore, proposed to Mr. Kooka that we drop the round trip fare from NYC to BOM/DEL to $450. It was my view that while this fare was uneconomical if maintained for too long a period, it would be a “two-edged sword”.  It would be very difficult for our competitors to undercut it and make a profit.  Additionally, this would have give us the necessary tool to substantially increase our FUD India - USA traffic thus reducing, if not eliminating, the “royalty” payment to the British.

It was this second objective that appealed most to Mr. Kooka who said and I believe that I am quoting him accurately - “Inder, let’s sock it to the British”.

Having got his complete support, I prepared a paper for submission to Air Marshal Chaturvedi, our M.D.  The meeting in his office was quite stormy with Mr. K. K. Unni, our Asst. M.D., saying “Inder, you will bankrupt us”.  I expressed the view that this was an introductory fare and that once we had achieved our objective, we would increase the level keeping in the forefront of our minds, the two objectives. 

I maintained that any inactivity on our part “would also have the effect of bankrupting us”.

With Mr. Kooka’s support, I got Management approval.  Mr. Kooka and I flew to Delhi and had an informal meeting with Mr. Narottam Sehgal who not only supported the propsal, but gave it his blessing.  We then held meetings with the DGCA and the Ministry issued a Government Order requiring Air-India to introduce a non-stop economy class round trip fare NYC - DEL/BOM at the $450 level.

We filed this fare with the U.S. Civil Aeronautics Board and informed the IATA Secretariat that we would be introducing this fare on 30 days notice.

The $450 fare exceeded our wildest expectations and not only did we develop an entirely new market to India, we NEVER paid a cent to the British for carriage of 5th freedom traffic.

It was one of my proudest moments when I had a visitor to my office who announced “Inder, my heartiest congratulations.  You were absolutely right and I was wrong in opposing you”.  The visitor was none other than Mr. K.K. Unni and I have never felt so motivated in my entire career.

It also goes to show, that one should always follow one’s convictions and the rewards will be forthcoming.  However, to do so, one must be encouraged and motivated by the support of his/her superiors.  I had that support from Mr. Kooka.

Cannes, in the south of France, was once again the venue of the 1968 IATA Fall Conference on passenger fares.  It had always been AI’s practice that the delegation would stay at the hotel where the Conference was held.  Room charges would be paid by AI and each delegate would be given an allowance to cover all three meals.  From experience, it was felt that the allowance was never adequate and one could never indulge in a really good meal.  It was always a sparse and frugal meal.

We had also noticed that some delegations stayed in apartments and thus cut costs.  The PIA delegation had in fact, been staying in apartments since 1960.  I suggested to Mr. Kooka that perhaps, we may experiment on this occasion and he agreed.  With the help of our Paris office, we rented two small apartments in the same building quite close to the Conference Centre and.  The apartments were quite well furnished and each one of us took over some tasks.

My wife, Manju, was with me during most of our stay in Cannes and she agreed to supervise the cooking of some meals.  Breakfast was mostly had at the apartments before going to the meetings.  Lunches were always at or near the Conference site.  Dinners were sometimes cooked in the apartments depending upon the scheduling of meetings.  

We were able to get some agreements on fares, although, if memory serves me right, the transatlantic airlines could not reach an agreement.  One incident of note took place during this trip.

We decided to invite senior members of some airlines to a cocktail party at our apartment.  Unfortunately, none of us realized that the date we had selected coincided with Karva Chauth, a one-day festival celebrated by Hindu women in North India in which married women fast from sunrise to moonrise for the safety and longevity of their husbands.

That evening many invitees came with flowers and bouquets for Manju in honor of her fast which she could not break until she had seen the rise of the moon.  That day happened to be a cloudy one and we did not get to see the moon until after all the visitors had left and my poor wife was almost fainting because she could not even drink a sip of water.  Luckily, VP Ganapule who had been keeping a vigil on one of balconies suddenly spied the moon and shouted - The Moon, The Moon and she then broke her fast.

The hiring of an apartment was not a success and we reverted to the practice of staying at the Conference hotel.

1968 saw a number of changes in the Commercial Department.

A new post of Deputy Commercial Director was created ostensibly to groom someone to take over from Mr. S. K. Kooka who would retire in 1972.  Also, we had a fairly large number of senior executives who had been overseas for many years and there had been unhappy voices clamoring for some changes as the posts occupied by them appeared to have been “reserved” and denied to those who had worked in India for far too long.

It was rumored that an informal agreement was worked out among these senior overseas staff.  I had mentioned in one of my earlier Posts that Nari Dastur wanted to come back as Commercial Director only after Mr. Kooka retired but due to a personality clash, he was unwilling to come back as Dy. C.D., awaiting his turn at the job.

According to the same rumor, Peter Mahta was prevailed upon to come and spend 4 years in Bombay as Dy. C.D. on the understanding that he would return to NYC in November 1972 as R. D. - USA & Canada.  Nikka Qadir took over from him during this 4 year period and Venkat from Delhi was promoted to take over the Middle East Region from Nikka.  Nari Dastur stayed on in Europe until Mr. Kooka’s retirement.  However, due to the same personality clash, Nari never did get the Dy. C.D./R.D.  grade and stayed as a Regional Manager until he took over as C.D. in 1972.

Changes were also made in the Planning Department at the same time.  This Department, which had become a fully independent Department in 1963 lost its full grown status when Adi Dubash left to join IATA.  It came back under Mr. Kooka’s control.  Luis Cabral left to join Kuwait as his move to take over failed.  I was promoted as Commercial Manager - Planning and reported directly to Mr. Kooka.

Ever since I joined Air-India in January 1957 (except for my initial training period), I had a desk in the large room on the 4th Floor of the Bank of India Building.  With my promotions from Junior Officer to Asst.Station.Superintendent, then to Station Superintendent and Station Manager, I had stayed in this same room.  About a year after taking over as Tariffs Manager (in the Sr. S.M. grade), I shared a cabin with Joe Andrade.

This all changed with my new promotion as C. M. - Planning.  I received my letter of promotion to C. M. Planning one afternoon and I went to Mr. Kooka’s office at the end of the corridor to thank him.  At no time during this meeting did he give me any inkling of what was also in store for me, nor did I dare ask.

It was only the next morning when I came to the office and was met by Narvekar, our Administrative “major domo” who directed me to my new office.  I had been given my own cabin right next to Mr. Kooka's.  Even today, I have difficulty in describing my emotions when I saw the nameplate “I. D. SETHI”.  It was then that I realized that I had finally “made it”.  It took almost 12 years.  I was now 33 years old and the youngest person in the grade of Commercial Manager/Regional Manager.  

My promotion brought back the memory of my interview with Mr. Kooka in January 1957. He had asked for my ambition and I had replied “Your Chair”.  Even though my office was now next door to his, I knew that there was a very large gap between the two offices and I resolved to make certain that I would not only fulfill my duties and responsibilities but also justify the faith that had been placed upon me by my superiors. 

Let me digress and speak of that nameplate.  It was removed and placed outside the door of every cabin that I occupied in the coming years until its final resting place in the corner office of the 17th Floor of the Air-India building at Norman Point.

One day, we were “honored” by a visit of the Parliamentary Committee on Hindi and during our meeting with them, I was asked why our nameplates were in English?  They should be in Hindi, I was told and when I said that not all of our visitors not read Hindi, I was “instructed” to have new ones in Hindi placed alongside.  For some inexplicable reason, I must have “seen red” and was determined not to accept such an “instruction”.  And so,when the meeting ended, I told Narvekar (yes, the same “major domo’) to remove all nameplates on the 17th Floor.  By now, everyone knew our names and there was no need to incur any additional expenditure just because this Parliamentary Committee wanted to replace English spelt names.

To the best of my knowledge, there were no nameplates on the 17th Floor when I left the airline in 1980.

A very interesting change took place at the time of these major changes in 1968.  We, in the Tariffs Division, were always guided by the wishes of the Sales Division and overseas Regional Heads in determining fares and rates policies.  With my taking over as CM - Planning, Mr. Kooka agreed with my suggestion that such policies would henceforth be decided by me under his direct guidance. 

I had mentioned to Mr. Kooka that we, in the Planning Division, were quite capable of conducting Market studies and would be better suited in developing Air-India’s pricing policies.  He agreed and the coming years saw a number of major changes in Air-India’s attitude to IATA’s rule which required that all fares and rates be agreed unanimously among airlines operating on any particular set of routes.

We started with the India - U.K. route.  Our marketing strategy, if there was indeed one, had been designed to carry business traffic in both directions and incoming tourist traffic to India.  There was another segment of the market which had been “ignored” and which had become the preying ground for Arab and other Middle East carriers.  This was the low yield emigrant traffic traveling from North India to the U.K. and the VFR traffic moving in the opposite direction.

It soon became evident to us that unless we obtained our rightful share of this market, we would have great difficulty in filling the 747s and other large capacity aircraft which were on the horizon.

We spoke with our British colleagues but found little enthusiasm.  They seemed quite content to let the 6th freedom operators cater to this market.  We could not get satisfaction at IATA fare meetings as the unanimity rule always came across as a barrier.

It was at this stage that the idea of a Charter Subsidiary was mooted and it was by hindsight that I came to realize that Mr. Kooka’s brain had been working towards this line of thought as he had been looking at full time Chairmanship of this airline after his retirement.

Our first move to attack this market came in 1969 with the introduction of a westbound emigrant fare which we introduced by an Order of the Indian Government with the tacit and reluctant approval of the British.  Our initial success had some repercussions.  Our cabin crew showed great unhappiness in the “quality” of our new passengers and the state of our cabins once the flights left New Delhi for London.

At Mr. Kooka’s direction, I took one such flight and asked Michael Mascarenhas to accompany me.  I was traveling in the First Class cabin in which there was no apparent effect.  However, Michael who traveled in the Economy Class cabin had rushed to breathe fresh air as soon as the doors open on landing at Beirut.  

I passed through the aisles in the Economy Class and noticed how many of the passengers had discarded their shirts and trousers and wore nothing more than vests and shorts.  There was a distinctive “aroma” in the cabin.  I examined the toilets and found them in disarray.  I spoke with the cabin crew who were disembarking at Beirut and they said that were thankful that their shift had come to an end.

On our return to Bombay, I suggested to Mr. Kooka that one possible solution would be to limit the carriage of these passengers to one weekend flight only and this way, all other India - UK flights would be “spared”.  He agreed and the lone weekend flight was thence known as the “Emigrant Special”.