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New Delhi, July 7 Air India is to not only look globally for a Chief Operating Officer but is also keen to have persons of international repute and calibre such as telecom technocrat Mr Sam Pitroda and the TCS Chief Executive Officer, Mr S. Ramadorai, as independent directors on its board.

The airline plans to have up to seven independent directors on its board. Official sources said the airline will soon issue a global advertisement seeking a COO. These are among the steps being looked at to turn around the fortunes of the state-owned airline. Plans are also afoot to partially disinvest Government stake in the airline in the near future, sources said.

The increase in global fuel prices and costs, as also low passenger revenues, is hampering the airline operations. National Aviation Company of India Ltd, which runs flag carrier Air India, is expected to register a loss of about Rs 5,000 crore during 2008-09 fiscal, the Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr Praful Patel, told the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

The Government, which plans to bring about changes in the top management in the next 30 days, is keen to complete the turn around in the next two years. The airline plans to have a re-look at its fleet acquisition proposal and also bring about a voluntary retirement scheme to cut down on its work force. The airline has ordered 111 aircraft at an estimated cost of about Rs 45,000 crore from both Boeing and Airbus. The airline has so far received only 49 of the aircraft ordered.

A high-level Committee of Secretaries, headed by the Cabinet Secretary, Mr K.M. Chandrasekhar, has been set up to monitor the airline’s moves to restructure. The airline has been asked to come up with a detailed restructuring plan within a month and submit this to the Committee.

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