A fine choice

Air India has made a fine choice in choosing ALOKE SINGH to pilot the LCC side of the business from January 1. The low-profile workaholic is a first-rate aviation professional with an ability to think out of the box. A profile.

When the late Deepak Barara was running the commercial department at Air India one of the smartest guys in his team was the low-profile Aloke Singh. Behind every Barara move, there was an Aloke imprint. At that time Delhi, former Lt Governor Anil Baijal was the Managing Director of Air India. Between the three of them, they took the rest of the industry by surprise. The first was every hour by an hour shuttle service between Delhi and Mumbai. These hourly departures were introduced by Indian Airlines introduced in 1999. Simply defined they offered a shuttle between the national capital, Delhi and the commercial capital, Mumbai, Critics scoffed and that there was no market for such flights. Today, they feature in any top ten list of busiest city pairs and there are multiple flights each hour between the two cities.

It speaks volumes about his credentials that the new Air India has chosen to retain someone from the 'old' Air India and promote him. An Air India (he was in Indian Airlines to start with and later part of the unified Air India) veteran who spent two decades plus, primarily in the commercial department, Aloke is the typical no-nonsense, self-effacing nut and bolts guy who knows the airline business inside out. He is not one of those whom you need to explain what seat factor and load factor are all about. From revenue management to route management to pricing and fleet rationalisation he has seen it all. Most important, he was in key positions throughout the years that the airlines were manfully fighting the headwinds in the form of Jet Airways and Naresh Goyal who were a thorn in their flesh at every turn.

Those who have worked with him describe him variously as extremely humble, focussed, man of detail and an aviation junkie. Perhaps all these are true, but his strongest trait is to work thematically on new ideas and get them off the ground like the famous Delhi-Mumbai shuttle many years ago. Today, it is the norm.