I was deeply saddened to learn that Ajit Singh passed away a few days ago.  Saddened not only because the passing of a former colleague leaves a big void in one’s life, but also the fact that my association with Ajit went back beyond my Air-India days.

If memory serves me right, when I first met him, Ajit was working for Indian National Airways in their office at Maholtra Building in Connaught Circus, New Delhi.  I was introduced to him by my brother-in-law, O.P. Lumba, who was then working for Bharat Airways. This was before the many domestic airlines were nationalized and combined into Indian Airlines.  So, I am talking about the early 1950s.

I had at that time, finished my schooling, but had not yet graduated from college. By the time I joined Air-India in 1957, Ajit had moved to KLM.  I was delighted when Ajit joined Air-India and we became close colleagues.  Even after I left Air-India and moved to the USA, we met whenever I visited India and particularly, when he got involved with organizing the annual AI retired executives lunch.  Many a time, we had dinner the night before at his residence, where I met other colleagues who were staying with him on that occasion.

Ajit was a great socialite.  He formed a number of small groups comprising persons with whom he had worked and he made it a point to invite me to their gatherings whenever my visits to India coincided with their meetings.  Two such groups readily come to mind.  The first was his former Indian Airlines colleagues and it was a true pleasure for me to renew my acquaintance with some of them.  The second was a mix of travel industry personalities, such as Gautam Khanna and Dilip Mitra.

The world will  become smaller with Ajit's leaving it.  He is the second of four AI colleagues whom I knew prior to my joining the airline, who has left this world; the first being SK (Gulu) Gulati.  

In my Post of September 4, 2016, I had spoken of the “elevation” of the current CMD of Air-India to the grade of a full Secretary to the Government of India.  I quote below an extract from this Post:

“Air India chairman and managing director Ashwani Lohani has been empanelled to hold secretary-level posts in the central government.  - See more at: http://www.governancenow.com/news/psu/air-india-chief-ashwani-lohani-empanelled-as-secretary#sthash.nyxVKZmS.dpuf”,

In the same Post, I spoke of the new routes that AI had embarked upon, which in the opinion of some (I quoted extracts from the media) and myself, it would appear that orders came from “above” and immediate action was taken to introduce these two routes.  I went on to ask “Is this an autonomous Corporation or an arm of the Government?  From what is stated in the foregoing paragraphs, I guess the latter.”

I added that in my view, sycophancy continues to live and flourish in the Modi Raj just as it did in the Gandhi Dynasty Raj and that the CMD’s elevation in grade must have been a “reward” to Mr. Lohani for accomplishing the objectives of the P.M? 

I was, therefore delighted to read the CMD’s interview with Anirban Chowdhury and Satish John (Economic Times - Jan 7, 2016) in which he came out strongly in favor of outright purchase of aircraft as opposed to leasing.  Here is what he had to say (in Italics):

“What we also, however, did was we got into sale and leaseback deals (which didn’t work well). Interest or finance costs on debt (when aircraft is purchased) come below the line of operational expenses. But lease rentals accrue as operating expenses. That is what has impacted our operating profits for the first two quarters. 

We, however, hope to post an operating profit for this year too as September to March is a much better half of the year.” 

Are you saying the sale and leaseback model hasn’t worked for Air India? The entire industry swears by it. 

“Leasing of planes is a very costly proposition. It has the advantage of not having to pay upfront. But the amount which a company pays regularly (as lease rentals) is much higher than what it would have to pay had it purchased the aircraft by taking a loan. 

The premium on selling planes to lessers is not much, just a couple of million dollars. The lease cost of one Boeing Dreamliner 787 plane is $1 million a month. For a year for 21 Dreamliners, it’s Rs 1,800 crore. If I had purchased, my outgo in terms of interest costs on loans would have been Rs 1,000 crore. 

Going forward, I would definitely do outright purchase of planes.

What we also, however, did was we got into sale and leaseback deals (which didn’t work well). Interest or finance costs on debt (when aircraft is purchased) come below the line of operational expenses. But lease rentals accrue as operating expenses. That is what has impacted our operating profits for the first two quarters.” 

There are talks that Air India is looking to buy back the same Dreamliner planes that it did sale and leaseback deals on? 

“We would definitely like to do that as it reduces the servicing cost to half or even 60% -- it's still being debated.” 

The foregoing question and answer session gave me hope that finally, this Management is developing a backbone and that it will take decisions independently and not accept diktats from the Ministry or the PMO.

Guess what, not even 10 days later (see the Times of India article by Saurab Sinhal on Jan 16, 2017) where the Aviation Secretary is quoted as saying:

“NEW DELHI: The government has decided that Air India will almost double its fleet by adding over 100 aircraft, but without burdening the exchequer with a mammoth debt burden like last time. The airline will grow by leasing aircraft instead of purchasing them — the model adopted by Congress-led UPA.

"AI will induct 100 more aircraft in next four years. We have decided not to seek any additional budgetary support except for the turnaround plan approved for the airline earlier. The airline will lease aircraft and has the resources to make the payment that needs to be made for leasing," aviation secretary R N Choubey told TOI.” 

Please mark the words “The government has decided …….. The airline will lease”.

Sad, very sad, that the CEO of the airline makes a case for outright purchase of aircraft and less than 10 days later, the top civil servant in the parent Ministry rules otherwise.  What happened to restoring the Glory of Air-India?  Does any one even understand the meaning of this phrase????????

As I indicated earlier, I was planning to join Kuwait Airways as their Commercial Adviser.  I would be initially based in Kuwait and later in New York.

Comments by some friends made me sit back and think seriously about my decision.  I was leaving a life in my own country where I was quite well known and respected.  It was true that I would be earning a salary much higher than what Air-India paid me, but the comforts, perquisites and life style that I enjoyed were nothing to be sneezed at.

My Air-India salary was insignificant when compared to what the private sector paid.  I was in the grade of an Additional Secretary to the Government of India and my basic pay was Rs. 3,250 per month while that of the M.D. was Rs. 250 higher (Rs. 3,500).  The M.D. was in the grade of a full Secretary to the Government.  You just could not get a higher salary as a Civil servant.

 But, then I had a subsidized fully furnished apartment with air conditioners in each of the three bedrooms, two Company cars with two chauffeurs, a fairly large entertainment budget, cook’s salary and an enviable social life.  The medical facilities that my family and I enjoyed were tremendous.  The fact that AI had not only paid all expenses incurred during my open heart surgery in the USA, but also deputed its Chief Medical Officer to be present during the most critical period was a very important consideration.

Additionally, I had lived my entire working career in a warm “cocoon”, knowing that unless I truly screwed up, I had job security.  Then, there were many intangible perks, eg. a pass to the Governor’s Beach for myself and my family, membership at the Chambers (Taj Hotel’s “in” dining place) etc. etc. We had complimentary tickets to various sporting events, such as Test matches at Wankhede Stadium, Tennis tournaments and Hockey matches between India and Pakistan.  Even the Rendezvous restaurant at the Taj Mahal hotel stocked my personal collection of french wines.

On the other side of the coin, I was venturing into a new world where I knew hardly anyone and that both my wife and children would have to start fending for themselves.  Life in the USA would not be a “picnic”, as they would soon find out.  There would not be a cook, a nanny or a chauffeur.  And, finally, there would be no job security, as the employment with Kuwait Airways could be terminated at short notice.

My wife and I spent many long hours discussing all of the above, but came to the conclusion that the decision was right and had to be taken.  I no longer had any job satisfaction.  I woke up each morning not knowing what shenanigans Mr. Raghu Raj would be up to and what he would ask me to undertake. I could no longer continue working in an environment governed by a corrupt regime in Delhi and a CEO whose only objective was to make money for himself and his benefactors.  I was proud of my record.  I was respected in the travel industry and felt extremely confident that I could hold my own in any new world. 

I would like to reproduce what appeared on the front page of the Bombay edition of the Times of India on August 22, 1980, the day after I submitted my resignation (the Delhi edition carried the same words, but the title read “Air-India’s last professional resigns”:

AI man quits on touchy issue

By K. N. Malik

Mr. INDER SETHI, deputy managing director – commercial, Air-India who had refused to succumb to pressure from politicians and ministry bureaucrats, today resigned from the airline.

Mr. Sethi, who was a senior Air-India official described as the last of the professionals in the airline had opposed the appointment of a group of persons who had a shady past as Air-India’s general sales agents for the USA, Canada, U.K. and Western Germany.

Several members of parliament had criticized pressures mounted on Air-India from political quarters for making these persons general sales agents. Mr. Sethi was able to convince the airline that the appointment of the GSA in the USA would not only create legal problems but would also be a financial liability.

He also refused to change the present GSA arrangement in the U.K. and Canada which had helped the airline withstand fare competition from various airlines.

The politicians and bureaucrats had tried to corner him after criticism in the Lok Sabha that Air-India had favoured the GSA in London and in Bankgok by accepting documents which were available at highly discounted exchange rates.

When asked to explain, Mr. Sethi turned the tables against the Ministry by producing a document which confirmed that the orders for accepting the documents were given by the Minister and conveyed to his department by the Chairman of Air-India.

Mr. Sethi opposed the frequent orders from above for postings and transfers right up to the level of Sales Officers and Traffic Assistants.  He also opposed fleet expansion at a time when traffic trends the world over showed a downward trend.

Mr. Sethi who had 13 years to serve the airline had represented the airline on several international committees.  He was considered one of the most competent hands on fares and international agreements. In his resignation letter submitted to the Chairman this morning, Mr. Sethi said that he had decided to leave the airline for personal reasons.

In early March, the Government had removed the managing director of the airline, Mr. B.S. Das.  A year earlier, Mr. K.G. Appusamy resigned from the managing directorship of the airline.  Another deputy managing director, Mr. Nari Dastur also left the airline.  A vacuum was therefore created at the higher management level of the airline.

My colleagues both in Air-India and in the travel industry gave me many fond farewells and I must confess that I broke down in tears on more than one occasion.

I must mention here the generosity shown by a very good friend and colleague.  We were packing our belongings and had a number of problems living in the same apartment while the packers and movers were at work.  

Azhar Siddiqi, the General Manager of The Oberoi Sheraton, insisted that we move to his hotel and he gave us a two bedroom suite for the last two weeks prior to our move to Kuwait.  All meals were included and even packed lunches for our school going children were provided.

We had to make decisions on what to keep and what to discard.  We ended up shipping 37 pieces of baggage and cartons to the USA to await our arrival (which took place 9 months later) and carrying with us another 37 pieces to Kuwait.  Gulu (SK Gulati, God bless his soul) arranged for a warehouse where the 37 pieces were stored until our arrival.

I must state that Air-India came through magnificently and all items were shipped free of charge.

I left Bombay on October 31, 1980 and Manju and Sarat followed 3 days later along with our cook, who agreed to come with us to Kuwait, but not to the USA.  Our older son, Akhil, stayed on with my brother until he completed his school year - Sarat joined the American School in Kuwait.  Manuel, Air-India’s Airport Manager in Kuwait met me on arrival and escorted me to the Sheraton hotel where I stayed for the first 3 days until Manju arrived and we moved into our seaside apartment that Kuwait Airways provided for us to stay.

After my meetings with Mr. Tata and the CMD the previous day, I called Jagtap, our Assistant Secretary and requested him to come to my office.  On arrival, he asked - is the rumor true and I said - that is the reason for my request, and then asked him to help me draft my letter of resignation.  Jagtap stated that it should be simple and suggested that I should indicate that I was leaving the airline for personal reasons and leave it at that.

So, my simple two paragraph letter was handed over by me personally to the CMD who requested me to stay on until further notice.

Two days later, I received a call from the Aviation Minister’s P.A. asking me if it was true that I was leaving the airline and when I replied in the affirmative, was asked to put everything on hold.

It would appear that the P.A. then called the CMD and was advised that the latter had accepted my resignation to which he was told that he had no authority to do so, as Mr. Sethi was not an employee of the airline.  Mr. Sethi was selected for the post of Deputy Managing Director by the Bureau of Public Sector Enterprises and serves at the “pleasure of the President” and only the Minister, on behalf of the President, could accept his resignation.

The CMD was instructed to forward the letter to Minister’s office and await further instructions.

A few days later, I received another call from the Minister’s P.A. asking me to meet the Minister at his residence the next day.  Accordingly, I proceeded to Delhi and met the Minister, who said that he was aware that the past few months had put a lot of strain upon me but I should rest assured that I had his full backing.  He requested me to reconsider and withdraw my letter. I spent more than an hour explaining in detail what had transpired since Mr. RR had taken over as CMD and how his sole interest was to make “money for himself and someone in Delhi”. 

Air-India had always had a clean reputation and we acted under established protocols, which Mr. RR wanted to bypass.  In my talk with the Minister, I minced no words and emphasized that under no circumstances could I continue to see the deterioration of the airline which Mr. Tata and his team had built over decades.  Hence, I requested the Minister to please let me go as I could no longer spend sleepless nights trying to figure out how to thwart the CMD’s machinations.

He agreed to my request and said that he respected my decision and he would give me his blessings for my future.  It was a very happy individual who returned to Bombay after this meeting.

On my return to office, I went to see the CMD and told him that I could not continue to hold on to my two jobs as Dy. MD and CD as my successor should not be bound by any decision that I made and, hence, I should be relieved immediately.  I had about 60 days leave pending, even after having takes over 3 months privilege and sick leave after my by-pass surgery the previous year.

Mr. RR asked me for my recommendation for appointment of the next Commercial Director and asked if the deputy CD was ready to take over the job.  I informed him that the current Dy. CD had been in the grade and job for too short a time.  Further, I had serious misgivings about his ability to work with his colleagues as a team, which was essential to the efficient running the most important department of the airline.  

I told Mr. RR that I had spoken at length with the current incumbent and got the distinct impression that he wanted to centralize all decision making.  Both Mr. Dastur and I had worked towards a decentralized system where we had delegated considerable authority to the various Regional Heads and Commercial Managers.  Such an organization had developed an excellent team and as the CD, I had less paper on my desk and more time to handle policy issues. 

This manner of working also gave me considerable time to oversee my other responsibilities as Dy. MD, in which capacity, I was in charge of three other Departments - Planning, Ground Handling Services and In-flight Services.

I gave him examples of how it took just a weekly call between a Regional Head and myself to clear all pending issues, leaving the RD then to follow up and take care of the paper work.

The thinking of the Dy CD was the complete opposite of this system and would create unnecessary paperwork and backlogs.  As an airline, we operated in a highly dynamic and competitive world and decisions had to be taken without delay.  As such, I could not recommend his promotion.  On the other hand, the three Rds in the U.K., Europe and North America had expressed a desire to stay abroad and not be considered for the post of CD.  

Hence, my recommendation would be to promote Malcolm Barretto who was the MD of the Hotel Corporation (HCI).  I was happy when Mr. RR accepted my recommendation and gave the job to Malcolm.

I then started making plans to “close shop” and leave India.  My first step was to welcome Malcolm to my office and hand over 54 bottles of scotch and brandy that I had received as gifts over the past three and a half years and which were lying in the cabinets of my office.

It took a few days for the enormity of my decision to hit me and I will comment on this in my next Post.

While playing golf yesterday, my wife and I passed an alligator basking in the sun on the 12th fairway.  I took a photograph of it from about 20 feet.  We had been warned not to get too close to any alligator as they can run faster than a human being.  Since we were in a golf cart, we did feel quite safe, but kept our distance.

South Florida’s water system connects every man made canal and lake and, as such, alligators can appear in most parts of the state.  I remember a warning of an alligator sighting in our community late last year, but it didn’t cause any disruption in our lives.

I sent the photograph to a number of friends and family members and my grand daughter, whom I call Sunshine, wrote back “Dada, how cool!!”.

In my last Post, I had concluded that I had reached a stage when it was time to look at other choices for my future.

Accordingly, my wife and I spent quite a number of days and weeks deciding what we wanted for our and the children’s future.  Reluctantly, we came to the conclusion that as far as my own career was concerned, I had reached a ceiling.  With the change in the culture in Delhi, the post of Chief Executive in Air-India under the present regime, would be a politically appointed one and which would require a life of Ji Hazoori and sycophancy; something which my conscience and self respect would not allow.  

Would I like to move to the Private Sector?  I threw out some feelers but senior Management openings were very few, except in the Tata Group of companies, where Mr. JRD Tata had indicated that he could find me a suitable position.  The other option was to move overseas and find a country which would enable our children to get a good education and then, opportunities.

Only two countries fit the bill; the U.K. and the USA.  Language would not be a barrier and hard work would be rewarded.  

Hence, I called my old friend Adli Dajani of Gulf Air and said “Adli, I am ready to move”.  He responded by offering me a senior position in his airline which I declined stating that one major condition was to move to an English speaking country with excellent education facilities.  If he could find me an opening in the U.K. or the USA, I would be very grateful.  If not, I would stay in India and move to the private sector.

A week later, Adli came back and stated that he had spoken with his colleagues in the Arab airlines ; two of whom would be delighted to talk with me.  He suggested that I do not waste any time and if I agreed, he would set up appointments with the CEOs of Alia, Jordanian Airline and Kuwait Airways.  I agreed and he came back with dates which were quite acceptable.  Accordingly, I took a week off from work and embarked upon a change of life, as I had known almost 24 years.

My wife and I left for Amman and met with Ali Gandhour whose desire, as I have written before, to operate services to India I had resisted.  He was very gracious and offered me the post of General Manager - USA & Canada, but the terms, though attractive, presented some problems.  Two items of the “package” did not appeal to me:

1. I would be placed on the payroll of the Jordanian Consulate to the U.N. While this would give me a tax free salary, it would deny me Social Security benefits as there would be no contribution from the employer.
2. Such an appointment would also deny me access to a Green Card.

I thanked Mr. Gandhour for his offer and stated that I would take it into consideration.

We then left for Kuwait where we were met on arrival by my old friend Fahed Al-Wazzan, the Commercial Director of KU.  Fahed had served as Manager - India for KU and he reminded me of the time I had kept him waiting for almost an hour before meeting him in my office at Narriman Point.  We had dinner in town at which time, Fahed told me that at my meeting the next morning with Ahmed Mishari, the GM of KU, I should ask for the post of Regional Manager - North America.

I met Mr. Mishari the next day and he started the discussion by stating that while KU would be happy to post me in New York, the job he had in mind was that of Commercial Adviser.  Living in New York would entail considerable travel as my responsibilities would be worldwide and he enquired if I would agree to that condition.  In addition, he wanted me to spend the first 6 months or so in Kuwait to learn about the airline in depth.

I agreed to both conditions and he said that he would be happy to send me an offer in writing within a week.  On parting, he gave me a gold Cartier wrist watch which I gave to my younger son only last year.  It was hardly worn and lay in the safe deposit box for most of the past 35 years.

Manju and I left the next day for Geneva and from there to New York, where I met with an Immigration Lawyer to discuss the road map to get a Green card.

On our return to Bombay, I did receive a letter from KU offering me the post of Commercial Adviser at a fairly high tax free salary with suitable housing in Kuwait and thereafter, in New York.  It was a very attractive offer and after consulting my older brother, I sent back a letter of acceptance.

The same day, I called Mr. JRD Tata’s Secretary and asked for an appointment.  Mr. Tata was no longer our Chairman, but he was member of the AI Board and my mentor.  His Secretary stated that Mr. Tata was extremely busy that day, but he would get back to me.  He called a few minutes later asking me to come to Bombay House at 4:00pm and would I like tea or coffee?

My meeting with Mr. Tata will always remain quite fresh in my mind and if I might indulge, I would like to take the liberty of reproducing some of the talk that we had.

He started by mentioning that he had learnt that I was quite unhappy and I informed him that this was the very purpose of my request to meet with him.  Because his time was precious, I briefly mentioned the various demands and interference from New Delhi which the CMD was determined to push through.  While he was aware of the issue of the 4 747s, he was taken aback by the other items that I mentioned, particularly the serving of wines and sale of liquor and perfumes.

I concluded my litany of problems by stating that I could no longer carry on in my assignment and that I had come to inform him that I was leaving Air-India.  To my surprise, Mr. Tata said that he knew this would come to pass having seen both Nari Dastur and KG Appusamy leave in the last couple of years.

He was deeply saddened that the old guard would no longer be there and he would miss his conversations with the top people that he had seen grow up in the airline.  I told him that I was leaving with a very heavy heart.

He said something to the effect - Inder, you have given more to Air-India than you have received and you go with my blessings.  

He then asked me of my future plans and I told him that I would be taking up employment with a foreign airline at which point, he reminded me of his offer to find a suitable opening in one of the Tata group of companies.  I thanked him but stated that I was now looking towards our sons’ future and the opportunities overseas appeared most attractive.

Mr. Tata bid me farewell and in parting said - If you need to use me as a reference, please do not hesitate.  I have enjoyed working with you and wish you every success in your future endeavors.

I left Bombay House and went back to my office and then called Mr. Raghu Raj and asked if I could see him at his residence that evening on a private matter.  He agreed and I went up 3 floors from our apartment around 7:00pm.

My meeting with him did not last very long and at the end, I got the distinct impression that he appeared quite relieved that I would no longer be a thorn in his side.  He asked me of my future plans and I vaguely told him that nothing had been firmed up but that I needed to now seriously look at other opportunities.  I left after telling him that my letter would be on his desk the next morning.

Soon after his arrival as CMD, Mr. RR informed me that one of his main objectives was to reduce expenditure, including and most importantly, have a “Zero Hiring” policy which meant that no expansion could take place.  He went further by saying that he had already directed the then Operations Director, Capt. D. Bose to cancel all pilot recruitment and training.

I recorded my serious objection to the latter directive as we needed to expand our operations to maintain and improve our market share, but he was adamant.

He also told me that he had instructed the Personnel Director that there would be no promotions of any staff in any Department for at least one to two years.

I was extremely perturbed by these developments which would have a disastrous impact on staff morale and spoke with CL Sharma and PV Gole, who was then Personnel Director.  They told me that they had no option but to accept the CMD’s instructions and that I would be wise to go along and not create “waves”.

I was, therefore, surprised when after returning from Delhi one day, Mr. RR informed me that he wanted to promote a member of the Commercial Department staff from the grade of Asst. Station Superintendent to the next higher grade.  Even before he gave me the name, I asked if he was referring to the son of the current Aviation Minister and if so, would he permit me to give him some background.

I mentioned that the Aviation Minister had come to see me during the Janata Government regime when he (a Congress party member) was no longer in power.  He had asked me to look after his son and I promised to keep an eye on him and in fact, only a few days prior to Mr. RR’s meeting with him, the Minister had called me and asked about his son’s well being.  I told Mr. RR that the staff concerned was 61st on the seniority list and to promote him out of turn would be difficult to justify particularly in view of his directive to the Personnel Director indicated above.

I suggested that he let me handle this delicate issue and he agreed.  I called on the Minister on my next visit to Delhi and told him that he could face an embarrassing situation if his son jumped 60 positions in his grade.  I recommended that given another year or two, his seniority would improve and at that time, I would be more than happy to promote him to the next higher grade.  Meanwhile, I suggested that we transfer him to Kuala Lumpur where a vacancy had occurred and this way, his added experience would help in justifying his promotion.

The Minister accepted my suggestion and I came back and reported the discussion to Mr. RR who “seemed” satisfied.  I say “seemed” because very soon after I had left the airline, there was an article in the newspapers that Air-India had promoted 63 officers in the ASS grade.  The article mentioned that in previous years and under other Managements, such mass promotions had never taken place.  Talk about sycophancy!!!!

As per normal practice, we had issued a List of Transfers which would take place on April 1, 1980 subject to exceptions where the date of transfer would create a hardship.  I received a request from one Manager for a short delay which I agreed to, little realizing that this staff would use the delay to get his brother who was a Member of Parliament to put the “squeeze” on Mr. RR.  I happened to be away on tour when my deputy informed me that in my absence, Mr. RR had agreed to leave the Manager at the same station.  

On my return, I met the CMD whose exact words were “what Delhi demands, Delhi gets”.

During the short time that I worked with Mr. RR, I found it quite peculiar that he showed very little interest in the workings of the most important department of the airline.  He never enquired how we earned our revenue; which were the regions generating the maximum revenue and most importantly, did I need any help in improving our profitability.

I did manage to get him to attend one meeting of the Senior Delay Committee which met once a month to discuss delays and how to minimize them.  The Committee was comprised of Department Heads and took its task very seriously.  At this one particular meeting, the Director of Engineering indicated that a few flights had been delayed by the Cabin crew at Bombay airport because they were unhappy with the quality of ice that was delivered by the Catering Department.  I remember Santosh Oberoi who headed Chefair stating that there had been occasions when machine made ice was unavailable and that his department had supplied “bazaar” ice which the cabin crew refused to accept.

Before anyone could comment, Mr. RR stated that while machine made ice was preferable, could “we not use dry ice instead”!!!!  There was pin drop silence and Santosh first glanced at me and then looked at the ceiling.  I never requested Mr. RR to attend any more meetings nor did I ever make any attempt in raising with him any issues pertaining to the four departments under my care.  I learnt very soon that his sole interest in his assignment was to make money for himself and his sugar daddies in New Delhi.

Soon after he took over as CMD, Mr. RR did raise with me an appeal made by three Commercial Department officers who had been superseded for promotion to the grade of Commercial Manager.  I informed him that the unlike promotions to lower grades in the department, promotions to this higher grade were strictly on basis of merit and suitability.  His predecessor had accepted the recommendations of the Senior Panel comprising the two Deputy Managing Directors and the Personnel Director and that I had personally briefed the then M.D. why these three officers were not considered suitable for promotion.  As a matter of fact, they had been “left behind” in a previous round of promotions for the same reasons.

Instead of accepting my explanation, Mr. RR asked me to have the Personnel files of these officers sent to him.  I arranged to have this done but did not hear from him again.  I do recall very vividly that these files were lying on the credenza behind his desk on the day I submitted my papers to him.

It came, therefore, as no great surprise to me when I later learnt that he had promoted all three to the higher grade soon after I had left the airline.

One day I received a Note from the CMD’s Secretary stating that one middle level staff in the Delhi office was scheduled to retire soon and the CMD wanted to give him an extension of one year.  I went up to the 22nd floor with the Personnel file of this particular staff - there was not one file; there were two as the reports on this staff and follow ups demanded more paper and space.

I briefed the CMD about this staff and mentioned that had the airline been in the private sector, the staff concerned would have been terminated many years ago.  He was a plodder and time server who showed no initiative and that we had allowed him to attain superannuation solely because he had more that one god father and that previous CEOs had agreed to keep him on and that he had never risen above the grade of a Station Superintendent.

The CMD mentioned that the request for extension had come directly from the Aviation Secretary.  I countered that:

1. In the past, we had similar instances where requests for extension had originated from Aviation Secretaries which we had declined.
2. I gave the case of the previous RD - India whose request we had turned down.  Here again, he had the backing of the previous Aviation Secretary.
3. I also mentioned that we have declined the request for extension from the previous RD - Middle East.

Bearing in mind these precedents, it would be difficult, nay impossible to justify the extension of this unsuitable middle level staff.

I had hoped that this would be the end of the matter but alas, I was summoned the next morning with orders to grant the extension.  By this time, I had had enough and told the CMD that he should issue written instructions to this effect to me and I would send back his letter refusing to do so.  He would then have to option to over-rule me.

He asked for time to think it over and I never heard of the issue again.

One day, Mr. RR sent a lady to see me about a proposal for making the film “Gandhi”.  This lady stated that her team wanted 30 First Class and 50 Economy class free tickets over a period of an year.  I asked her what would AI get in return and she was taken aback by my question.  She had assumed that as the national carrier, AI would gladly donate such free tickets, particularly since her backers were politically connected.  At the same time, she stated that when she had met the CMD, he appeared quite willing to accede to her request.

I then suggested that she go back to him as I was unable to agree.  She left and shortly thereafter, Mr. RR called and his first words were “why must you be so negative?”.  I insisted that all I was asking was for a quid pro quo.  We could not justify willy nilly grant of free tickets to whoever came from his god father in Delhi and since I could not find a QPQ, perhaps, the decision would best be left in his hands.  He muttered unintelligibly and rang off.

I left AI shortly thereafter and never learnt the conclusion of this matter.  However, I did see the film at the Asia Society in New York as Air-India’s guest.

The above incidents may appear, by themselves, quite insignificant, but taken along with other major issues, such as the purchase of 4 747s, grant of GSAs, changing the wine list on our aircraft etc., etc., gave me many sleepless nights and made me rethink deeply of my future in Air-India.

Sometime shortly after taking over as CMD, Mr. RR hinted to me that perhaps, we should have three Deputy MDs.  Both CL Sharma and I guessed quite correctly, that the Director of Operations had made his move now that Pranab Mukherjee was back in the Cabinet.  Mr. RR went so far as to tell me that in his opinion, the Inflight Services Department should be overseen by the D.O.  I asked him how, when he had been with the airline for such a short period, he had come to this conclusion.  Was he being manipulated by the D.O.?  He vehemently denied it but when pressed suggested that “let sleeping dogs lie”.

I was reminded of Mr. Appusamy’s remarks to me more than an year earlier that the culture was changing and that I should look for another job. That, coupled with the advice that I had received from both my wife and my cardiologist made me decide to start looking at other choices for my future.

I have recently been suffering from what is called “writer’s block”.  That, coupled with two quick visits to New York and New Jersey have delayed adding to my Blog.  Hopefully, I will now get back to my routine.

The latest visit to the northeast was a very pleasant one.  We celebrated Diwali and the 3G birthday of which I had spoken in my last post.  Now, let’s come back to the narration of my lack of “bonding” with Mr. Raghu Raj.

After the incident of wines to be served and perfumes for sale where I was accused of insubordination and asked to leave his office, peace reigned for a short while until I received a visit from two persons. 

These two persons (I will refrain from calling them gentlemen) were sent down to see me by the CMD’s Secretary who merely stated that they were emissaries from “you know who in Delhi”.

I asked them to be seated and requested them to let me know what I could do for them.  They answered “appoint us your GSA in USA, Canada, the U.K. and Europe”, to which I replied “how about my job?  Don’t you want that too”.  The response was “you know who has sent us so let’s get down to the appointment”.

I asked them if they had a written proposal to which the response was in the negative.  They replied that they did not need to justify their demand as they were told by the “you know who in Delhi” that AI would grant the GSA without question.  At this time, I excused my self and went to Anil Kadam’s office and called the CMD.  He told me that orders had come down from the PM’s office to accommodate the request of these two characters and that I should do the needful.

I went back and told them that I would look at their request favorably if they would present a detailed proposal to which I was give a blank stare after which they left my office.

About ten minutes later, the CMD called me and said - let me make this clear.  We have to give them what they want and so issue them a letter confirming their appointment.  I requested an audience with him to indicate why the request would be difficult to accede to.  He agreed and I went up to the 22nd Floor.  I stated that:

1. We do not need a GSA in the USA, as under the laws of that country, we could offer any fare level we felt necessary and/or give any commission level to agents. If asked to justify, we would have great difficulty in explaining why we are paying an over-ride commission of 3% without any quid pro quo.
2. We had appointed a GSA in Canada only a few months ago and it would seem odd to make a change so soon without any justification.
3. We had a GSA in the U.K. whose appointment had been viewed and scrutinized very carefully by the former Aviation Minister himself and we were give a “clean chit”.  We would open up a Pandora’s Box if we now changed the GSA.
4. We could look at a GSA for certain European countries, provided we had a detailed project report justifying the need for such an appointment.

I got the distinct impression that I had finally made an impression.  Mr. RR became quite candid and explained that the instructions came directly from none other than Sanjay Gandhi and that only country that was in play was the U.K. The other countries and areas were asked for to camouflage the main issue.  Further, he had no alternative but to accede to the fiat from New Delhi. He also stated that the two had gone back to Delhi and that I should send the letter of appointment to the Regional Manager - Government Affairs in Delhi for delivery to them.

Accordingly, I wrote the letter and sent it to Delhi for delivery to the PM’s office.  I also called the RD - UK and told him of my predicament.

Before the letter could be delivered, some maneuvering had taken place and the emissary from the Delhi office was told that certain events had overtaken the situation and the letter of appointment could be cancelled.

It was only after I had resigned that I learnt the following:

1. One of the two characters was the nephew of one of the partners of our current GSA in the U.K. and there was no love lost between the two relatives.  The nephew was a close friend of the second character who, in turn, was a close confidant - read “chamcha” - of Sanjay Gandhi.
2. Our GSA learnt of the going ons behind the scenes and arranged to deliver a small suitcase full of cash to Sanjay Gandhi who decided to let matters lie.
3. The other partner of the GSA had been unaware of this exchange of cash and felt betrayed and the two partners had a falling out.

The entire episode was very upsetting and I had quite a few sleepless nights.  So much so, that my wife gave me a book to read; the theme of which was - you cannot fight City Hall.  It was her way of saying that it was time to call it a day and to pursue other interests.

It has been quite some time since I posted on my Blog.  Manju and I were up north visiting our children and grand children - a truly great trip.  Will be going back on the 26th for Diwali and the “3G” birthday party.  It is called 3G because we celebrate the birthdays of 3 generations at one time - Aanya our oldest grand daughter (whom I call my Sunshine) was born on October 8.  Manju was born on October 12 and Akhil, out oldest son was born on October 19.

It has been a tradition for some years now to have one big get together and it is called the 3G celebration.

On returning to Florida, we were met by Matthew, a Category 4 hurricane.  We reached on the evening of October 5 and Matthew arrived on October 6; ours was one of the last flights to land at West Palm International airport.  Hurriedly, we placed shutters on all our windows and the French window leading to the patio.  Our neighbors were a great help and we settled down to experience our very first hurricane with 2 hurricane lanterns and lots of crackers, bread and water.

We got lucky.  Just as Matthew was parallel to our part of South Florida, it veered slightly north and passed 45 miles to our east instead of 25 miles as forecast.  Our part of Boynton Beach (15 miles from the Ocean) experienced strong wind gusts up to 60 mph and lots of rain, but it was nothing compared to what happened to the coastal regions and Central & North Florida.  The damage was enormous and even as I write, thousands of homes are still without electricity.  The state of Georgia and the Carolinas had even more damage and at last count 22 lives were lost.

When the storm passed, I thanked the “Neeli Chattriwala” who had listened to the prayers of our family and friends.  We truly were spared.

Now to get back to my narrative.  I have spoken about my open heart surgery in October 1979.

On my return from medical leave in early 1980, I received a call from an old friend and ex-colleague.  Adli Dajani was our Sales Manager in Damascus when I joined Air-India.  He left sometime in the early 1970s and joined Kuwait Airways in a senior position and later moved to Gulf Air where he was (in 1980) their General Manager (Commercial).

Adli had learnt of my by-pass operation and called to enquire about my health.  He then said that he had learnt about the problems that Air-India had gone through with the Bosu Committee Inquisition and asked if I was happy with my current status and that my own job was secure.  I mentioned to him that the atmosphere had calmed down and that I had the full support of both my current Chairman (PC Lal) and Managing Director (BS Das).

Adli then said that I should seriously consider a “change of scenery” and suggested a meeting in Bahrain between Gulf Air and Air-India, indicating that there were some issues which needed to be resolved.  I agreed to the meeting and after consulting our RD- Middle East, we set a date for our meeting towards the end of March 1980.  The meeting was quite cordial and successful and an interesting note was that on one side of the table was the AI delegation and on the other side was the Gulf Air delegation whose members were all ex-Air-India employees.

At the end of the meeting, I met Adli at his home and in passing, expressed admiration for the various carpets that were strewn over the floors.  He indicated that they were all “gifts from none other than the person I had introduced to him”, referring to Naresh Goyal who was by then the GSA for both Kuwait Airways and Gulf Air.  Adli then got serious and said that if ever I wanted to move from AI, he would be delighted to find a place for me in Gulf Air.  He also stated that some of his colleagues in other Arab airlines would be equally happy to do the same.

I told Adli that while his offer was very welcome, I was quite happy with my current status, but if it changed, I would get back to him.  I also told him that in case I did move, I would like to be situated in an English speaking country where my children could get a good education and had better job opportunities.  We short listed the USA and the U.K. and Adli said that he would keep my preferences in mind.

Before I returned to Bombay (I went to Cairo after Bahrain for talks with Egyptair), I learnt that Mr. BS Das had been removed as our M.D. and it came to my mind that perhaps, I may have to make a change shortly.

Come April 1980 and Mr. Raghu Raj Bhalla (RR) was appointed as our Chairman and Managing Director.  I have already mentioned this in an earlier Post and talked about asking him and Mrs. Raghu Raj for dinner at our apartment.  I have also written about his very first “venture”; purchase of four (4) 747 aircraft which I managed to scuttle.

In an earlier Post, I have mentioned a Note handed over to Mr. RR by the then Minister of Civil Aviation at the meeting at his residence which was chaired by Dhirendra Bhramachary and at which we were directed to purchase the 4 747 aircraft. The same Note had three items, one of which pertained to the acceptance of other airline documents as payment by our GSA in the U.K. - a subject I have also spoken about.  Please forgive me if I am repeating myself.

The second item on the Note given by the Aviation Minister was that the GSA be allowed to sell all categories of traffic to all destinations.

I spoke with the then R.D. - U.K. who was opposed to this expansion and said that his sales staff and Travel Agents were adequately covering these market segments.  Expanding the GSAs coverage to include traffic to the USA and/or First Class traffic to India would alienate these Travel Agents.  His study did not indicate any substantial increase in revenue by granting this additional traffic to the GSA.

As such, I spoke to Mr. RR that we should not accede to this request which had obviously been originated by the GSA.  He accepted my reluctance but I left his office with the feeling that his view of the R.D. - U.K. was “clouded”.  I spoke confidentially to the R.D. and told him to watch his step vis-a-vis the CMD.  Subsequent events proved that my fears were justified because soon after I left AI, Mr. RR transferred the R.D. back to India.  As expected the R.D. did not take kindly to this transfer and took early retirement.

The last item on this Note was on the wines that we offered on our aircraft and the perfumes and liquor that we sold in-flight.  There is a background to this.

About one year before this Note appeared, my brother who lived in New Delhi told me that he had been approached by an importer of liquor and perfumes and asked if Air-India could replace our current list of these items by those imported by this person.  I informed my brother that we had a Standing Committee which selected wines that we served and that, as per normal practice, they reviewed the list periodically.  I also told him that this protocol had been established a long time ago and I saw no reason to make any change.

It would behove this Importer to meet with our Controller of Stores  & Purchases so that the Standing Committee could look at his wine list when they next made their periodic review.  He could, at the same meeting, present his list of perfumes and liquor for the Dept. Head to review.

A few months later, my brother informed me that the Importer did not want to go through the procedure that I had laid out and had made an offer of a commission of 2.5% to my brother if his list of wines and perfumes could be accepted.

I was quite upset with my brother and told him to “butt out”.  I would not tolerate any mention of such “commissions”.  We ran a very transparent operation with regard to our purchases and that protocols had been set and established by my former superiors, in which I personally believed very strongly.

I was, therefore, surprised to see this Item on the Note that was handed over by the Minister to Mr. RR, whose only comment to me was - take care of this.

I had a long and rather painful meeting with Mr. RR when I explained the above background to him.  I urged him to inform the Minister of our protocols and that whoever gave him this Item, should be asked to follow laid down procedures.  

Unfortunately, I was not successful in convincing Mr. RR.  With regard to the perfumes and liquor, he asked me to pass this item to the Controller of Stores & Purchases with a remark that the CMD would like him to discuss it with him on the latter’s next visit to Santa Cruz.

With regard to the wines, Mr. RR asked me to participate in the next wine tasting session that the Standing Committee had scheduled and see how we could “accommodate this request”.

The Committee was due to meet in London in June 1980 and I arranged to be present.  The Committee was planning to taste 32 wines; 8 each - red, white, Burgundies and Bordeaux. I was initiated into their protocols which required that each bottle be covered by brown paper to hide the label and then marked with a number.  The wine was poured into glasses; then each member of the committee sniffed and tasted it after which he spat it out and ate a small piece of cheese to eliminate the taste.  

Each member of the Committee would then rate the wine on a scale of 0 to 10.

We went through the entire process at the end of which I must admit that I was feeling “pretty high”.  The end result was that the Committee selected three wines to replace those then been served on our aircraft.  These included only one wine that the importer had offered to us.  I took these findings back to Bombay and presented them to Mr. RR.

Mr. RR asked if this Committee’s findings were binding upon us and when I told him “No, we can overrule the Committee but would have to provide justifiable reasons”.  Since neither he nor I was a connoisseur of wines, we would have a major problem if our decision was questioned at a later date.  We had established this Committee and delegated authority to it since they were experts.

I was then DIRECTED to withdraw this delegation of authority and add all the wines that this importer had mentioned to the list.  At this point, I had had enough and told Mr. RR that if that was his wish, he would have to issue such instructions to me in writing.  He accused me of insubordination and told me to leave his office which I did.

It so happened that shortly thereafter, a member of our new Board was visiting Bombay and  called on me.  I took him out to lunch at which time he asked how was my relationship with the CMD.  I told him that I was very upset with the direction in which we were headed which was to make money for certain individuals.

This gentleman then revealed to me that Mr. RR had been selected to perform a certain function and that was to develop ideas and create avenues for money to be raised for the main political family in Delhi.  He also said that in case I and others in the organization did not fall in line, we could and would be replaced.

Fortunately, RR did not raise the subject again while I was still with the airline and I presumed that the subject had been laid to rest.