Air India

Wilson has 26 years of experience in the aviation industry. Earlier, Turkish Airlines head Ilker Ayci had been appointed as the Air India CEO by the Tatas, but he subsequently declined the offer on March 1. Air India would benefit from Wilson's added experience of having built an airline brand in Asia, N. Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Air India, was quoted as saying in a statement.

Alliance Air was an esrtwhile part of Air India prior to the latter's divestment. At present, it is operated as a division under the Air India Asset Holdings Pvt Ltd (AIAHL). It was founded in 1996 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of then Indian Airlines, which later merged with Air India. The airline mainly operates on domestic regional routes as part of the government's Regional Connectivity Scheme.

In a tweet, the airline said: "Passengers holding tickets of Air India with a 4-digit flight number starting wiith '9' or 3-digit flight number starting with '9I' may please be informed that these bookings belong to Alliance Air. "Bookings or Queries related to Alliance Air will not be handled by Air India from 15 April, 2022."

The reinstatement of regular international flight operations is expected to boost the pandemic battered civil aviation industry in India. On Sunday, scheduled commercial international passenger services to and from India were restarted. The Centre has allowed over 3,200 flights per week from India during this year's summer schedule which commenced on Sunday.

Earlier this month, ex-Turkish Airlines head Mehmet Ilker Ayci, who was named as the new Air India CEO-MD, declined the position. No reason was given for Ayci's decision. Last month, the Tata Group-led Air India announced the appointment of Ayci as the new Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the airline. At that time, Ayci while accepting the position said he is "delighted and honoured to accept the privilege of leading an iconic airline and to join the Tata Group".

Last month, the Tata Group-led Air India's announced the appointment of Ayci as the new Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the airline. He was expected to take the charge on or before April 1. Ayci (51) until recently was the Chairman of Turkish Airlines and was also on its Board of Directors prior to that.

The airline operated a direct flight from New Delhi to Bucharest on early Sunday morning, while another one departed for the Romanian capital the afternoon. Besides, the airline will operate one flight from New Delhi to Budapest in the evening. These flights are operated as special government charters to bring back stranded Indians, who managed to find their way out of the hostilities between Russia and Ukraine.

This is routine procedure when a foreign national is appointed CEO of any Indian company, officials added. Ayci, a Turkish citizen, was recently appointed as the CEO and MD of Air India. The officials said that the process will be initiated once the MHA gets official communication on Ayci from the Tata group or the Ministry of Civil Aviation, which is a nodal Ministry.

As tensions between Russia and Ukraine remain high, the Tata Group-led Air India will run three direct flights to Kyiv to bring back stranded Indians from the East European country. Accordingly, Air India will operate three flights between Delhi and Kyiv on its Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. The flights to the Boryspil International Airport from India will be operated on February 22, 24 and 26.

In his maiden address to the staff via virtual platform, he said the Tata Group has very big dreams for Air India. According to Chandrasekaran, the airline would focus on customer service, technological advancements such as website, application, front and back-office systems, among others.