Air India sacks low-cost arm COO Pawan Arora

MUMBAI | NEW DELHI: Air India terminated the services of Pawan Arora, the controversial chief operating officer (COO) of budget arm Air India Express, on Friday.

On a three-year contract, Arora, who was appointed COO at a hefty pay package of Rs 1.20 crore a year, was on a six-month probation.

He was given marching orders after pressure from the government coupled with allegations of irregularities and fudging records, said a top Air India official who did not wish to be named. His appointment was under review by the newly-appointed civil aviation minister as well.

The termination of his services followed a decision taken by the Air India board and its independent directors in a board meet held in New Delhi last month. Subsequently, the matter was referred to the airline’s legal department.
Arora was among the three high-profile appointments made by Air India to help the sagging carrier turn around. He joined in September with Gustav Baldauf, COO, Air India, and Stephan Sukumar, a person of Indian origin, chief training officer.

The other two appointments are also under a cloud, a person familiar with the development said. “They are also being reviewed by the management and the ministry,” he added.

The salaries offered to these three officials have been a bone of contention.

The financially-strapped carrier hired Baldauf for over Rs 3 crore and the rest for over a crore. This did not go down well with the employees, who are not being paid on time for over a year now by Air India.

The state-owned carrier recently took a loan of Rs 600 crore from Corporation Bank to disburse salaries for the month of January.

Air India Express currently operates 124 flights a week on international routes, mainly on the Gulf routes (80% of its revenues are from this region) and has been a money-spinner for the airline before its routes were scrapped and brought down by about 35 flights a week. It has a fleet of 21 Boeing 737s.

Air India is looking to promote someone from within the budget airline or depute its own official in place of Arora. Air India Express usually functions on the basis of staff taken from Air India.