The logo of the new airline till today is a red coloured flying swan with the “Konark Chakra” in orange placed inside it. The flying swan inside it has been taken from Air India’s characteristic logo. The “Konark Chakra” is a reminiscent of Indian’s logo.
Aircraft Parade. (2005). Widebody Aircraft Parade.
Founder
J.R.D Tata
Harpreet. (2007). JRD: The legend lives on.
Born:July29,1904(1904-07-29)
Place:Paris,France
Died:November29,1993(aged89)
Place:Geneva,Switzerland
Occupation:Industrialist
Spouse : Thelma Vicaji
Air India was founded in 1932 by J.R.D Tata as Tata Airlines, a division of Tata Sons LTD (now known as Tata Group). J.R.D Tata launched Air India International in 1948 as India’s first international airline. It was well known that J.R.D Tata cared well for his workers and also conducted programs in favor of employees and for their well being. Due to his non-stop work and kindness, he has received a various number of awards such as Padma Vibhushan and Guggenheim Medal for aviation. Due to his noble humanitarian endeavors he also received India’s most prestigious award, the Bharat Ratna. He was indeed a man of great sensitivity and was hurt by the poverty he saw around him and tried his best constantly to lessen it. Moreover he was also a philanthropist who wanted India to be a happy country and did all he could to make it so.
Mission
To be among the top five Asian airlines in terms of Yield, Profitability, Productivity, Size and Quality.
Vision
Focus on customer satisfaction
Grow with emphasis on sustained profitability
Provide exciting and satisfying work environment to retain and develop employees committed to Corporate Vision
Focus on social responsibility, environment & community
Objectives
Achieve unit revenue, unit cost, profitability, productivity and service level targets, based on benchmarked parameters
Organizational Structure
Chairman & Managing Director
Director- Personnel
Director-Commercial
Director -Finance
Director -Engineering
Chief Vigilance Officer
Air India. (2011). Management.
Above is the organizational structure of Air India. It is mainly a tall structure. Mainly large, complex organizations often require a tall organizational structure. In contrast, flat organizational structures have fewer levels of management and employees therefore often have more autonomy. With the growth of Air India in time, the number of management levels has increased and the structure has mainly grown taller. In this type of structure, managers form many ranks and each has a minimum area of control, which is in the case of Air India. The tall structure of Air India shows the narrow span of control which adheres in close supervision of employees. It also provides clear layers with lines of responsibility and control and a clear promotion structure as well.
SWOT Analysis
Culture
Currently the organizational culture in Air India does not seem to be in a good shape as there have been constant differentiations among the staff. The merger of Air India and Indian Airlines has resulted in being rather unsuccessful where there has been problems occurring in pay of staff and training. Pilots complain about being forced to work long hours and at the same time there have been concerns that Air India ignores safety regulations. Such issues are very crucial to be looked into as this can tarnish the work of the organization and damage its image too. Taking a look at the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines, their cultures were very different starting from pay scales, their promotion policies and their areas of operation were entirely different. This has caused a lot of problems and even now they are not entirely integrated.
More than 100 Air India pilots have gone on strike over the past month which led to a hunger strike. There were two aircrafts at the center of the controversy - Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Boeing 777 - and who should be trained on them. The management was not in proper agreement whether pilots from Air India or Indian Airlines should be trained on the two aircraft.
This has resulted in flights including international flights being cancelled which have brought great loss for the company. Looking further into the problem, Air India pilots called in sick affecting international operations during peak season. They are demanding more privileges including higher pay compared to their colleagues who came in from their sister-carrier Indian Airlines. It is to be noted that the merger of Air India and Indian Airline was at first seen as the best solution for the two airline’s problems by the government. But five years on, employees in all categories starting from pilots to cleaners still identify themselves as belonging to the former organization.
Air India pilots on strike
madhyamam. (2012). Striking Air India pilots move court over non-payment of dues. Available: http://www.madhyamam.com/en/node/2301.
Due to the strike, 101 pilots have been sacked till now (India Today, 2012). Even then the pilots are continuing with their hunger strike. According to reports, it seems that tough actions will be taken against the remaining 300-odd pilots and indications were given to these pilots that they could be sacked too. The management has failed to give them the promotions that are due according to the pilots. The pilots on strike also say that it’s unacceptable for Indian Airlines pilots to be trained to fly the new Boeing Dreamliner, which is to join the national carrier’s fleet later this month. As mentioned earlier Air India was merged with India Airlines in 2007. Even since then, pilots from both airlines have clashed repeatedly over issues such as parity in pay and seniority issues. As a consequence of this ongoing problem and strike, at least 12 Air India flights have been cancelled. The pilots on strike also blamed that the services of the pilots were terminated unlawfully.
In view of the pilots on strike, the Ministry of Civil Aviation was not hearing their needs and was unmoved by their strike, acting deaf.
"There is only one cry, one demand that we want justice. We have not asked for any monetary gains, we have just asked for a career progression, which was a justified demand and because we asked for a justified demand, hundreds of my brothers have been terminated," said Rohit Kapahi, one of the protesting pilots (Times of India, 2012)
The strike has severely hit Air India’s international flight operations. As a result the airline is operating 38 out of its 45 services. Among the axed international destinations are Hong Kong, Osaka, Seoul and Toronto.
Resistance to change
Some of the pilots of Air India are still on strike. They now have mainly two demands which are to reinstate the 101 pilots which have been terminated and that the Indian Pilots Guild should be given recognition unconditionally. Indian Pilots Guild is the union of airline pilots of Air India, and its President is Mr. Jintendra Awhad.
Finding a solution maybe a difficult task as both parties in the management are not on the same path. From the start there have been dissimilarities. Increase in pay for some may cause problems for the others. No steps taken from the management may result in the strike lasting longer which would cause more problems for both employees and flyers as well. Furthermore unwillingness of staff to change may hinder the solution of coming back for work and working as a team.
The Civil Aviation Minister has given statements regarding the strike which resulted in being rather insensitive to the problem of the pilots.
"The minister (Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh) gave a very insensitive statement yesterday that this hunger strike is good for the health of the pilots. I would like to say that our health is fine, but the health of Air India is poor and we are worried about it," said Sumit Dheer, another protesting pilot (News Track India, 2012).
So far the indefinite hunger strike of the Air India pilots have been named illegal by Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh and has asked them to join their duties immediately.
The Air India pilots recently urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to step in to help in resolving the struggle over the strike, as health condition of some of them on protest fast were getting worsened. The Indian Pilots Guild which is leading the strike also sent letters to Congress President Sonia Gandhi and General Secretary Rahul Gandhi seeking their urgent intervention to help resolve this longed matter. It was a huge relief for the pilots when the International Federation of Airline Pilots’ Association (IFALPA) extended their support to the pilots and urged the aviation regulator to make positive contribution towards ending this dispute and solve the matter by bringing both sides to a negotiation.
Suggestion to change
Since the pilots are on strike a lot flights including international flights have been cancelled so far. It is high time that a solution be found for this matter. In such a case where the industry concerned is highly influential and also represents the country as whole, a decision should be made where it comes to a positive solution. Due to the current problem, Air India is faced with serious hurdles. United States has recently fined Air India $80, 000 for not sharing information with customers regarding flight delays. In order to avoid such problems in the future it is high time that a reasonable answer is found.
Being vulnerable at the time being, Air India has sought a package of Rs14 000 from the government to stay strong. In order to be running and in a good shape there are certain things that should be looked into. It should provide equally for all staff in terms of pay and trainings as well. The management should hear the demands of the pilots on strike and try to come up with a solution which would benefit both parties. If the problem is not being looked into, it is both the management and also the people in strike which would suffer along with losing a huge number of Air India customers. Regular feedback from employees as well as flyers could be heard so that concerns or problems could be handled early.
Furthermore it would be beneficial for Air India to enhance the reliability of its brand in the long run. For an example, Kingfisher advertises itself as the only 5* airline company in India. Air India could also try something as such to embrace its uniqueness. Taking a look at aviation industry of India, Air India has the best pilots and has a reasonably good record on keeping flights on time. The company could make a refreshing brand image for itself to save itself from the hurdle it is in now.
Pilots are one of the most important assets of an aviation industry. The matter of the Air India pilots should be solved before it is too late. If not Air India could be facing serious problems which would affect the popular airline.
Conclusion
An airline is one which not only affects its employees but also a lot of people including flyers across the globe. It is important that Air India reaches a solution where it can go back to working in a respectable environment. This would be helpful in bringing back its lost image and attracting more frequent flyers in the future. It should be kept in mind that being a successful airline takes a lot of work, where it should be both ethically and morally upright in order to be regarded as worthy of flying, where there are a number of airlines to choose from.
References
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TimeofIndia. (2012). 300 Air India pilots on strike in Mumbai. Available: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/300-Air-India-pilots-on-strike-in-Mumbai/articleshow/14388423.cms. Last accessed 30/6/2012.
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