19 August,2011 07:36 AM IST | | Bipin Kumar Singh
As people from the top brass give up their positions in Air India, pilot unions allege they are washing hands off the airline since CMD Arvind Jadhav is not there to save them
The disarray Air India hoped to straighten up with the ouster of CMD Arvind Jadhav is still clinging tenaciously to it.
AI's fortunes seem to beu00a0 continuing to sag despite the ouster of Jadhav
Hardly a week has passed and all the people appointed to senior posts by Jadhav are putting in their papers one after the other.
Their decision to quit has brewed another controversy.
While sources from the state carrier say that the voluntary resignations are due to the appointment of the new CMD, pilot unions ascribe their own set of accusatory reasons to those bowing out of the sick carrier.
Jitender Awhad, president, Indian Pilots' Guild (IPG) and senior NCP functionary, said, "We expected this would happen. People who are quitting after Jadhav know very well that there is no one in the organisation now to cover their wrongdoings.
u00a0
We have a list of 12 illegal appointments made by Jadhav, and we are going to meet the new CMD as well as the aviation minister for their removal."
"This is a clear frustration of losing a boss who protected their misdeeds," said a senior pilot, a member of Indian Commercial Pilots' Association (ICPA).
Awhad added "We have been asking for a CBI inquiry against Jadhav and his aides for a long time. I think this is the right time to initiate it for the truth to be revealed."
But ministry sources revealed that more than two-dozen top appointments are under scrutiny, a decision related to which will be taken soon.
"It's not about who is close to whom. We do not believe in such theories. If there is no need of such appointments, they will be terminated with immediate effect," a senior official said.
Those quitting say
Captain N K Berry is the airline's GM, with the additional charge of Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Jadhav. The vigilance commission charged Berry for sourcing liquor from PM Manmohan Singh's flight.
Berry was also accused of getting his son, Aditya, a job with AI Express, and helping him shift to the AI mother cadre, a process the IPG calls illegal.
Said Berry, "The OSD-ship was an additional charge given to me by the outgoing chairman (Jadhav). Since he has moved out, the post, naturally, will get abolished. I was the GM (operations) then, and I will still hold the post."
Captain Sandeep Marwah, an OSD to Jadhav was suspended by the ICPA in January for passing on important information to the management.
During the ICPA's strike in March, the body accused him of being a "mole" and charged him with working against the interests of his colleagues.
u00a0
The pilots' body also boycotted him and directed pilots not to fly with him in the cockpit as well as a passenger.
"I resigned a couple of days before Jadhav. He appointed me as his OSD, so it would not be ethical on my part to continue with the post. I am now back to my parent cadre," Marwah said.
Chief information officer Kamaljit Rattan was among the top four executives hired at a very high salary when the airline was bleeding with losses.
AI's board of independent directors questioned all these appointments. Three of them, Gustav Baldauf, hired as COO, Stephen Sukumar, as chief technical officer, and Pawan Arora, as COO, AI Express have already resigned.
Said Rattan, "I resigned last Friday, and I am serving my notice period." He refused to elaborate on the reasons.
