Mumbai: Tata Sons has appointed former chairman of Turkish Airlines Ilker Ayci as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) of Air India. Ayci will assume his new responsibilities on or before April 1 this year.

The decision was taken at the board meeting of Air India on Monday afternoon in which Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran was a special invitee to this board meeting. Ayci’s appointment to the new position is subject to requisite regulatory approvals, said Air India in a statement.

“Ilker is an aviation industry leader who led Turkish Airlines to its current success during his tenure there. We are delighted to welcome Ilker to the Tata Group where he would lead Air India into the new era,” said Chandrasekaran.

An alumnus of Bilkent University, Ilker did a Master’s Programme in International Relations from Istanbul's Marmara University in 1997, according to the statement. “I am delighted and honoured to accept the privilege of leading an iconic airline and to join the Tata Group,” said Ayci.

After a competitive bidding process, the government had on October 8 last year sold Air India to Talace Private Limited, a subsidiary of the Tata Group's holding company, for Rs 18,000 crore. Tatas beat the Rs 15,100-crore offer by a consortium led by SpiceJet promoter Ajay Singh and the reserve price of Rs 12,906 crore set by the government for the sale of its 100 per cent stake in the loss-making carrier.

Air India was started by the Tata Group in 1932. However, after the country got independence, it was nationalised in 1953. As many as 61 individuals have headed Air India, including erstwhile Indian Airlines, between June 6, 1953, and January 27, 2022 -- the period during which the carrier was under the government’s control. Air India’s last government-appointed CMD was IAS officer Vikram Dev Dutt, who took charge on January 21, 2022 and Tatas took control of the carrier on January 27. /BI/