Rajiv Bansal takes charge as Air India’s CMD

Senior IAS officer Rajiv Bansal recently took charge as the interim CMD of Air India, saying that he is committed to working on the airline’s profitability with a “missionary zeal”. The state-owned airline, which has a debt burden of more than Rs 50,000 crore, has been in the red for long but managed to eke out operational profit for the first time in a decade in 2015-16. “We will plan to work on profitability with a missionary zeal, improve our on-time performance and ensure customer satisfaction,” Bansal said in a statement soon after assuming charge as Air India’s Chairman and Managing Director. “I seek the support of all fellow Indians to fly Air India our national carrier – Air India – Truly Indian,” he said. Bansal replaced Ashwani Lohani, who has assumed office as Railway Board Chairman.