New Delhi: In a major development, the pilot unions of Air India on Monday urged airline's CMD to "immediately replace" Meenakshi Malik, who holds the post of AI Director (Commercial).
This comes days after Air India asked its employees, led by Malik, who had submitted their expression of interest for buying the airline to stay away from "policy matters" and any strategic issues that have a bearing on disinvestment.
The employees, each of whom is contributing Rs 1 lakh to the bid, have proposed to acquire 51 per cent of the airline's stake, while the remaining 49 per cent is supposed to be held by financial partners.
In a letter written to the airline's CMD Rajiv Bansal, the Indian Commercial Pilots' Association and the Indian Pilots' Guild said, "... her decisions as head of the commercial department directly affect the health of the airline and consequently, it's market worth to potential bidders. There is a gaping conflict of interest here. If she does justice to her current role as Commercial Director of Air India, the airline does well and generates more market interest as well as direct competition for her bid for the divestment."
"Alternatively, the potential use of insider information to actively sabotage the functioning of the airline and stave off-market interest cannot be overlooked. We are certain that you appreciate this Catch-22 situation and issued the office order in the larger interest of the airline," the pilot unions added.
On December 17, 2020, the national carrier asked its employees who had submitted a bid to purchase 51 per cent of the loss-making state-owned carrier, to not handle matters related to policy and other strategic issues of the company which may have a bearing on the disinvestment of Air India or any information which may be used directly or indirectly in this regard.
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"We note that the very ahead of this management consortium, the current Commercial Director, Ms Meenakshi Malik, has not yet come under the purview of this office order. She has been quite vocal in the media in the last few days, so her intent to bid for Air India should not come as a surprise to anyone," the pilots added.
The ICPA and IPG stated that in her position as the head of the commercial department, it is clear that she has access to inside information about our entire network and business plan both current as well as the future.
"At this very crucial juncture, we do not have the luxury of relinquishing our responsibilities as the national carrier. To see us through these volatile times, it is best if all horses pull in the same direction. We therefore strongly urge you to follow through this office order in letter and spirit and immediately replace her as well as any other key management employee bidders holding such sensitive positions," stated the pilot unions.
Last month, the pilot bodies advised their members not to participate in the airline's disinvestment process, saying that the management has still not addressed their concerns over the pay cut, which has been in effect since April 2020.
The government had in January invited preliminary bids to divest its entire stake in Air India and the airline's subsidiary Air India Express along with its joint venture Air India SATS Airports Services Private Limited.
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