Ilker Ayci, the former chairman of Turkish Airlines, has “declined” the position of Air India MD & CEO. The government was conducting comprehensive background investigations on this associate of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoan, who is not exactly a friend of India, to see whether he could be granted security clearance.
A spokeswoman for Tata Sons confirmed on Tuesday that Ayci had declined the role. In the next days, the Tatas are expected to announce a new name. It remains to be seen if it includes someone who was previously shortlisted.
When foreign media reports surfaced shortly after the Tata Group announced his candidacy — “subject to required regulatory permissions” — it aroused eyebrows because Ayci had reportedly facilitated investments by a former al-Qaeda financier. According to a Turkish court-approved investigation into a corruption case, Ayci, as president of the Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Turkey (ISPAT), was responsible for enabling those investments.
SJM has also raised concern over appointment of Turkish Citizen
Swadeshi Jagaran Manch (SJM), a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) member, has also expressed reservations and asked Tata Sons to reconsider the selection of Turkish citizen Ilker Ayci as the next Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Air India. SJM co-convener Ashwani Mahajan told The Hindu that his organization was opposed to the government clearing the appointment, citing “national security” concerns.
Ayci’s decision to step down as CEO of AI may not be a complete loss for the airline or the Tata Group. His selection had taken the airline industry by surprise, both in India and overseas.
The 51-year-old isn’t a seasoned airline employee who has worked for a variety of companies. In 2015, he was named Turkish Chairman. Turkey’s claim to fame in the aviation world, according to senior officials of major airlines that have partnered with Turkish, is the construction of a giant airport in Istanbul.
“Ayci’s appointment at Turkish was a routine bureaucratic one, much like AI’s continued employment of government personnel when the company was owned by the government. Turkish’s heyday was long ago, much before 2015. We expected that, free of government oversight, AI would appoint a seasoned aviation veteran as its CEO for the turnaround, which is undoubtedly the most challenging in modern history,” stated a representative of a major international airline. In fact, industry insiders are blaming the firm engaged to choose CEOs for AI for a supposed lack of due diligence.