Air India may tap private sector for top-level hires

Air India is likely to hire professionals from the private sector to fill the positions of functional directors, in what will be a first for the carrier. Aviation minister Suresh Prabhu has asked his ministry to look at hiring people from the private sector at the airline. The posts of director-personnel and director-commercial at Air India are vacant and to fill these, the aviation ministry had earlier moved a proposal to the Public Enterprises Selection Board, the govt head-hunter for top positions at state-run companies. But it withdrew the proposal following Prabhu’s direction, said a senior aviation ministry official, who did not want to be named. Even though Air India has had a chairmen and COO from the private sector, this would be the first time it will be hiring functional directors from outside the govt. <br/>