Rajiv Bansal, has taken over as the Chairman and Managing Director of Air India. He succeeds Ashwani Lohani, who has now become the Chairman, Railway Board. Bansal has earlier served as Director in the Ministry of Civil Aviation and had played a crucial role as a Board member of the National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL) during the formative years of the merged national carrier. He has also earlier served as a board member of the Alliance Air, a wholly owned subsidiary of Air India. Bansal has a rich experience of working in the civil aviation sector.
After taking over charge at the Headquarters of Air India, Bansal said, “I feel happy and proud to be given this opportunity to lead the national carrier. The company has been growing from strength to strength – inducting new aircraft and introducing new routes. We will plan to work on profitability with a missionary zeal, improve our On Time Performance and ensure customer satisfaction. I seek the support of all fellow Indians to fly Air India our national carrier – Air India – Truly Indian.”
An IAS officer from the Nagaland Cadre of 1988 batch, Bansal has earlier been Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) where he was looking after Digital Payments, IT Act, Aadhaar, and Internet Governance. Bansal brings with him an extensive and rich career-experience of 30 years holding key portfolios, like Secretary, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) and Joint Secretary, Department of Heavy Industries, Government of India. He has also served on the Boards of BHEL, AYCL, HMT and the GITA.
Bansal is a Civil Engineer by profession having graduated from IIT, Delhi in 1986 and has a Diploma in Finance from ICFAI, Hyderabad and an Executive Masters in International Business from IIFT, New Delhi.
