Considering his long association with the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Air India, the new CMD is perhaps aware that translating vision into reality may be a more daunting challenge than his rhetoric indicates.

A demotion and an appointment served to elevate Raghu Menon to the post of Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) of National Aviation Company India Limited—the new flagship entity formed in August 2007 after the merger of the two government-owned national carriers and operating under the brand name Air India. The Special Secretary and Financial Advisor in the Civil Aviation Ministry took over from V. Thulasidas who retired on March 31.

A 1974 batch IAS officer from Nagaland cadre, Menon had withdrawn his name from the race as the post of Air India’s CMD is on a par with Additional Secretary in the central government and he had already been promoted to a higher rung. Consequently, the final list submitted to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) did not feature his name. But Minister of Civil Aviation Praful Patel would not accept any other candidate for the post, whether insider or outsider. Menon accepted demotion in favour of the high-profile post, rendering fractious the elaborate process of vetting and shortlisting from the 51 applicants recommended by a committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary.

Eyebrows might be raised, but his appointment should not come as a surprise as Menon enjoys fairly decent and respectable credentials. Associated with the Ministry of Civil Aviation for some years, having served earlier as Joint Secretary and Additional Secretary, he has also been on the Board of Air India. This is in fact the second time he has been elevated to the post of CMD. On August 1, 2003, following superannuation of then Air India CMD J.N. Gogoi, Menon temporarily held charge for merely 14 hours, to be precise. Coincidentally, then too, it was the Minister of Civil Aviation in the NDA Government, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, who nominated him for the post.