Air India heading for massive trim; to start low-cost service

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ue, Jul 7 08:25 PMNew

Delhi, July 7 (ANI): Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel on Tuesday

said that a major revamp of Air India's top management would be carried

out in 30 days and it would start low-cost domestic operations in a bid

to turn around cash-strapped Air India in the next two years.According

to sources, the entire top management of Air India, which is under a

loan liability of Rs 15,000 crore, would be recast in the next 30 days.

Several old time directors might be asked to leave and a Professional

Chief Operating Officer will be appointed under the Chairman and

Managing Director."You will see in the next 30 days a major

change in the top management in Air India. You are going to see a major

change in the board. Some heads are going to roll. We are going to

bring high quality people of great integrity and people with a proven

track record in business," said Praful Patel.Apart from the massive trim, the airline has also been told to begin domestic low cost flights."AI

must enter the domestic low cost segment. That's where the growth is

and is something that Jet and Kingfisher have already done. It's upto

the airline whether to use AI Express for that purpose or have

something else," Praful Patel added.The Civil Aviation

Minister's remarks follows reports that Air India was expecting an

estimated loss of about Rs 5,000 crore in the 2008-09 financial year.

(ANI)http://in.news./139/20090707/808/tnl-air-india-heading-for-massive-trim-t.html