karatecatman wrote:

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Three consultants for Air-India, Indian merger shortlisted  

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Link please, I want to read the full article!!

avoiding double thread is another thing I need to keep in mind.  Currently, both the threads have progressed sufficiently, so would be incorrect to block either of them.

rgds

VT-ASJ

152 airports?

Thats enough for a world tour...AI hurryup

Air India offically has denied such a move.

Leaks data room info to rival airlines.

Is " uncomfortably close" to the powers that be in the Ministry, whcih is why is quoted in paragraphs at every media briefing on the situation in India. 

What Amar Singh is to Bollywood is what KK is to media circles. 

Alleged dealings in airport contracts in the Far East.

Just hope AI doesn't have to deal with him.

 

-- Edited by karatecatman at 18:56, 2006-07-13

-- Edited by karatecatman at 18:58, 2006-07-13

http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=134027
v thulasidas
 
Merger Maker 
 
The Air India chief has the toughest job in Indian aviation: merging two airlines losing market share
 
VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO
Posted online: Saturday, July 15, 2006 at 0000 hours IST
 
       
 
 
 Can two state-run airlines with a cumulative staff strength of over 33,000, some 130 planes, a complex mix of local and international routes, and governed by a myriad set of pay rules and dated service traditions be successfully merged?
For all the sceptics, there is one determined shoulder pushing hard so that the union of Air India and Indian (formerly Indian Airlines) goes through—V Thulasidas, chairman and managing director of Air India. He is the pointsman aviation minister Praful Patel is counting on to take his ‘merger’ project to fruition.

Patel’s optimism that the merger will be completed this financial year (last year he said the deal would be closed by March 2006) may find few takers, especially, in the two airlines, but Thulasidas is not one of them. ‘‘N Vaghul, chairman of ICICI, Vishwapati Trivedi, CMD of Indian, two persons from the ministry of civil aviation and the director — finance from Air India and Indian on the board committee appointed for selecting a consultant for the merger are at work,’’ he says, hinting at steady progress.

The committee met Friday to finalise the adviser on the merger as a first step towards the amalgamation. The coming together of India’s two large public-sector carriers is nothing short of a logistical nightmare.

With over 250 employees to each plane in its fleet, the Air India-Indian combine will be among the most bloated carriers in the world. And, then, there is the issue of bridging disparities in remuneration, promotion, transfers and several other niggling HR troubles. Thulasidas knows that the success of the union lies in the ability of the two managements to be able to resolve these issues. He believes in empowering his people. ‘‘I tell them that Air India is their airline. Where do you want to take it? Up or down. If you want the airline to go up then you have to participate in the effort towards it.’’

By some estimates, revenues of the combined entity will be in the region of $3 billion (or Rs 13, 863 crore). Then there is the clout that the airline will wield in the domestic and international market — a point that Thulasidas is not reticent about. ‘‘As a merged entity, we will be one of the largest carriers in Asia. At the moment, Air India is small by international standards. Following the union with Indian, we will be able to take on competition with confidence.’’

At 58, Thulasidas’s energy levels are that of a global airline CEO. Says a close aide, ‘‘Its amazing how he manages to keep up with his schedule.’’

Retirement for the 1972-batch Indian Administrative Service officer is two years away, but Thulasidas isn’t thinking about it yet. ‘‘I have much to do,’’ he says. ‘‘However, if you ask me, I would like to do some serious reading and writing once I retire.’’

Besides work, Thulasidas’s other great passion is teaching. After completing his post-graduate course in English Literature, he took up teaching, while pursuing his doctoral studies in Kerala. But the Air India chairman could not complete his Ph D. because civil services beckoned. ‘‘I may even take up teaching, which I thoroughly enjoy, on retirement. My life as an academic was a pleasurable experience,’’ he says.

Belonging to a middle class Keralite family, values of hard work and dedication came early for Thulasidas. ‘‘My father was a teacher. I guess he imparted these values in me.’’

Having grown up in the 60s, an intellectually stimulating period characterised by a certain rebelliousness and gay abandon, the ‘flower child’ in Thulasidas retains a deep consideration for fellow workers. Following the July 26 torrential rains in Mumbai last year that created havoc for the average citizen, residents of the flooded Air India colony in the Santa Cruz suburb of Mumbai recall how Thulasidas came to check how he could help.

‘‘I got typhoid during my trips to the colony around the time of the floods,’’ he says sitting in his spacious office next to the domestic airport in Mumbai. ‘‘I just had to go there. The water levels were dangerously high. There was no food, portable water or electricity. We couldn’t leave our people in a situation like that.’’

Air India and Indian employees, it would be hoped, would be as considerate to their boss as he slogs on the merger.

 

A PR piece? Nothing at all about the problems in the merger.
        
 

-- Edited by karatecatman at 14:02, 2006-07-15

Oooh, this will be fun. Praful Patel was betting his hide on getting this done by the end of this FY (Mar 2007), looks like the goal post has been moved out by a year. That's enough time for the govt to change, and for AI/IC to roll back any half hearted moves they may have made towards merger!

I do hope that the MoCA tries to accelerate the merger, and get the high level milestones and formalities sorted out by the end of this FY. The low level implementation can come in the months to follow. This would be similar to the recent US Airways + America West merger, where the announcement/decision was made, and then the actual merger activities are still going on (and following the set timetable).

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1052383
Air India, Indian merger to be over by 2006-07

PTI
Monday, September 11, 2006  18:08 IST

 
KOLKATA: The proposed merger of state-owned carriers Air-India and Indian is expected to be completed in the current financial year, Civil Aviation minister Praful Patel said on Monday.

He informed that the consultant appointed for this purpose had been asked to submit its report shortly.

In view of the changing dynamics, this merger had to be done. Accenture had been appointed as consultant for the merger process.

Patel said the proposed initial public offer (IPO) of Indian would be done after the merger.

Merril Lynch had been entrusted to carry out valuation for Air-India.

 

Why Indian's IPO alone? Doesn;t seem to be an outright merger then. Indian seems to be retaining its own identity. Same case with AI, if the recent comments of the 2 CEOs are to be taken seriously.

What 380 says has some sense in it. 
 

http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=140571
IA, A-I to shed 1,700 post-merger 
 
NEELASRI BARMAN & SAGAR MALVIYA
Posted online: Saturday, September 16, 2006 at 0000 hours IST 
  
 
MUMBAI, SEPT 15:  State-run carriers Air-India and Indian Airlines will offer a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) aimed at reducing their staff strength by more than 1,700 employees. A-I has 15,700 employees and IA, 19,300 now. A majority of the employees, who opt for voluntary retirement, are likely to join the maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities being set up in India by Boeing and Airbus, according to sources.
In 2003 and 2004, around 490 employees in IA and 400 in A-I had opted for VRS offered by the companies. But this time around, the outflow of funds for VRS is likely to be higher and the eligibility criteria, to be decided by the civil aviation ministry after the merger, will be different from those used for the previous schemes.

Earlier, the eligibility criteria covered permanent staff of companies - employees who had served continuously for more than 10 years or had attained 40 years of age. But licensed and technical categories were excluded.

The employees were entitled to an amount equivalent of 35 days’ salary for every year completed in service, plus 25 days’ salary a year for the remaining years of employment, or the salary for the remaining period of service, whichever was lower. Both the airlines are estimated to have spent nearly Rs 100 crore on the schemes.

A working group has now been formed to co-ordinate on issues likely to arise during the merger. The group consists of two directors from the ministry of civil aviation, personnel directors of both the carriers and a nominee of the merger consultant.

The civil aviation minister has indicated that the merger of the two carriers will take place in the next fiscal. Accenture with Ambit Corporate Finance has been appointed as the consultant to draw a road map for the merger. The merger is expected to help A-I compete effectively with global carriers like British Airways, Singapore Airlines and Qantas Airways.