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Thursday, 9 October 2014

Reviving Air India: How Rohit Nandan is doing it

New Delhi: Stories about Air India's turnaround are usually sniggered at because all earlier attempts to improve the performance of the airline have failed. But judging by the series of initiatives undertaken by the airline and the results trickling in, this time the country's national carrier, under Chairman and Managing Director Rohit Nandan, might just manage to do the unthinkable.


In the first quarter of this financial year, Air India reported a growth of 12.8 per cent in revenues and a surplus of Rs 425 crore after meeting cash costs. With route rationalisation and cost cutting measures in place, Air India is looking at reporting EBITDA (earnings before income, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) of Rs 1,150 crore in 2014-15. This would be an increase of around 50 per cent over Rs 771 crore reported in 2013-14 and significantly higher than the Rs 192 crore recorded the year before that. Operating losses are set to reduce by a steep Rs 3,940 to Rs 1,200 crore from Rs 5,140 crore registered in 2012, the year Nandan assumed office. And provided there are no major disruptions, indications are that a turnaround could take place by 2017-18.
Nandan, who is currently on a three-month extension, attributes the sharp improvement in financial numbers during his tenure to the financial support extended by the government and a new can-do attitude of the airline's employees. "The financial restructuring plan was a game-changer as it relieved the financial stress. The government had the option of closing down the airline but its support and confidence changed things significantly," he says.
Read news in full 07/10/14 Sharmistha Mukherjee/Business Standard

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