A recent tweet by air India announced the appointment of Ilker Ayci as a new managing director and CEO of Air India. Last month the TATA Group took over the airline from the government.
The TATA group was looking for an experienced person, due to which they interviewed many potential candidates including some American and European expatriates. However, the post was finally offered to Ilker Ayci with an ambition to establish the airline as a global platform.
Tata group’s chairman, N Chandrasekaran said in a statement, “Ilker is an aviation industry leader, who led Turkish Airlines to its current success during his tenure there. We are delighted to welcome Ilker to the Tata Group where he would lead Air India into the new era”.
Who is Ilker Ayci?
Born and brought up in Instanbul Ilker Ayci was a former chairman of Turkish Airlines. He resigned from the post in late January this year, after serving the company since 2015. Tata group handed him the Air India airlines soon after.
According to the statement shared by the TATAgroup, Ilker Ayci has done masters’ in International relations from Marmara University in Istanbul in 1997. After his education and initial carrier, he was appointed as a chairman of the Republic Of Turkey Investment Support And Promotion Agency in 2011. He also served as chairman of Turkish Airlines since 2015, now hired by tata group as MD & CEO of Air India.
Many Indian airlines are managed by expatriates, as this provides a global experience and better exposure to the airlines.