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Air India Indian AirlinesTRANSCRIPT
IJRIME Volume2, Issue5 (May-2012) ISSN: 2249-1619
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THE FALCON THAT DID NOT TOOK THE FLIGHT; A CONCEPTUAL
RESEARCH PAPER ABOUT THE FALLOUT OF THE AIR INDIA AND
INDIAN AIRLINES MERGER FROM THE HR PERSPECTIVE.
Dr. Mrs. Naaz Ovais*
Ms. Durdana Sohail**
ABSTRACT
At the time when most of its competitors are performing low, new customers are flowing in, and
the recent kingfisher saga it’s the time when a strategy could be worked out to fully integrate the
two entities, Air India and Indian Airlines and capitalize upon the opportunity. The merger
aimed at forming a big corporation by merging the two companies. It would not be wrong to say
that the two companies or two big birds came together to form one bigger organization or a
falcon. But unfortunately this falcon reared to fly high in the skies could not take its flight. It is
usually seen that during the M&A the main focus is on getting the deal done, but the issues that
ensure that the deal works are quite often neglected. Without the wholehearted support of the
employee no merger or acquisition can be successful. The focus on the integration aspect is still
missing somehow. The financial and operational parts were well looked into but the deeper
issues of human resource were not handled properly. This research paper is an effort to bring
into light the HR issues concerned with the merger of the two airlines, Air India and Indian
Airlines.
Key Words: Air India, Indian Airlines, Merger, HR Issues.
*P.G Department of Economics, Safia Arts and Commerce College, Bhopal, MP
**Assistant professor, Allana Institute of Management Sciences, Pune, Maharashtra
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INTRODUCTION
In these fast changing times the companies have found out a new way to grow inorganically
through Mergers and Acquisitions. With the growing competitive pressure organizations are
finding it difficult to solely grow from internal development and wait for the long gestation
period involved thereby. In such a scenario, the best option left with, is Mergers and Acquisitions
(M&A). But at times, the corporate rationale is unable to look at the critical success factor
behind these M&A. These are the factors that should be put in the forefront of consideration, for
the successful completion of the M&A story. These issues do not mainly relate to the financial or
the economic aspect of the new organization, but deal with the very basic issues of low morale,
insecurity, a sense of invasion, the general chaos, etc which ultimately results in disorientation
due to frustration, which in turn results in poor performance and low productivity. In short the
HR aspect is neglected. The executives involved in the M&A process often tend to overlook the
human aspect involved. This research paper deals with the human side of the merger of Air India
and Indian Airlines, which started in 2007 and was finally completed in 2011. And the issues
resulting in the fallout of the merger.
With the recent news on the CNN- IBN of the Civil Aviation minister calling it as a big mistake,
it becomes all the more important to look into the reason of its fallout.
Before the merger the two companies were big players in the air, one in the domestic sector and
another in the Indian international sector. The merger aimed at forming a big corporation by
merging the two companies. It would not be wrong to say that the two companies or two big
birds came together to form one bigger organization or a falcon. But unfortunately this falcon
reared to fly high in the skies could not take its flight. It is usually seen that during the M&A the
main focus is on getting the deal done, but the issues that ensure that the deal works are quite
often neglected. Without the wholehearted support of the employee no merger or acquisition can
be successful. The focus on the integration aspect is still missing somehow. The financial and
operational parts were well looked into but the deeper issues of human resource were not
handled properly.
People are important, in fact they are the most critical assets and more so in the service sector
where they can become the core competency for any organization. In such a scenario how can an
organization keep its HR issues at bay and think it can still make profit. A news paper recently
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quoted the civil aviation minister saying that the financial and operational integration is complete
now only the HR integration is left. The merger of air India and Indian Airlines took place in
2007 but till date they were working as two separate entities. Following the merger of the two
companies, it was decided that a combined identity should evolve. Since Air India was a globally
and nationally recognized brand name, the operational brand name of the company remained Air
India and the Maharaja continued to reign as the mascot of the new airline. The logo of the new
airline was a flying swan with the Konark Chakra placed inside it.( Tayagi ,E.. 2011 )
On 22 March 2006 a Performance Audit Report on Civil Aviation in India by Ministry of Civil
Aviation was put before the Prime Minister on the issue of the proposed merger of AIL and IAL;
a copy of this presentation could not be retrieved from MoCA’s records. As per the file notings:
In the presentation, it was highlighted that in the light of the global trend towards consolidation
in the airlines industry, it had become incumbent for the two national carriers to work towards
merger, as the merged entity would not only be able to compete effectively in the market but
would also find greater acceptability amongst the global alliances. It was emphasized that given
the overall developments in the civil aviation sector internationally as well as in the domestic
sector, nothing short of merger would be an effective way to compete effectively in the market.
(Performance Audit Report on Civil Aviation in India – Ministry of Civil Aviation 2011-12)
Thought the government and the management had set time line to integrate the people and
operation of the two entities within the next three year, their plans could not materialize. The
culture in which these two operated was entirely different and so were their HR policies
regarding Pay scales, promotion policies and area of operation.
When the problems started emerging the management started looking at other big mergers in the
aviation industry which were a success like Delta and British Airways, British Airways and
Iberia , Lufthansa and Swiss ,US: United and Continental. Air France and KLM, Air France and
British Airways are the result of past mergers. One of the biggest challenges is that Air India and
Indian Airlines are working as separate entities since their merger in 2007. The merger, in fact, is
only on paper — this is the bone of contention. The expectations from the committee run very
high. But we do not have a magic wand. (Aggarwal Smita 2011)
In 2007, in its report on the national carriers, Accenture had highlighted two factors as being
responsible for their sub-optimal performance: an ageing fleet and the fact that the two existed
individually. The report had gone on to say that merger of the two entities and replacement of the
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ageing fleet would result in a profit of Rs 1,000 crore in the first year itself. Instead, in the three
years following the merger in 2007 saw losses escalate from Rs 1,200 crore in the first to Rs
2,600 crore in the second to Rs 5,500 crore in the third year. Each time, the management of the
airline blamed the losses either on high fuel prices or intense competition or some other factor.
The inescapable fact is that the airline today has accumulated losses of Rs 16,000 crore.( Mitra
2012).
LITERATURE REVIEW
Strategic alliances are voluntary arrangements between firms involving exchange, sharing, or co
development of products, technologies, or services. They can occur as a result of a wide range of
motives and goals, take a variety of forms, and occur across vertical and horizontal boundaries
(Gulati, 1998).Alliances have proven to be one of the driving factors of air transport
development in the past decade ( Holtz, M 2007). Alliances are a toll for extending or reinforcing
competitive advantage, but rarely a sustainable means for creating it (Porter, 1990). Jürgen
Weber, the former CEO and one of the founders of Star Alliance judges alliances
enthusiastically: “If there were not already alliances, then they should be invented.” (Kewes,
2007). By alliances carriers can increase the loyalty of their passengers. Higher switching costs
allow airline alliances to earn a premium on their flights and be more effective in their response
to competitors (Doganis, 2006, 87).
Airline alliances have been seen as the most important change of aviation in terms of
competition (Knorr, 2001).Integration of networks offers substantial marketing advantages to the
alliance partners. Most alliances integrate their frequent flyer programmes and computer
reservation programmes and run common advertisements. From the point of the traveller the
airline is offering a superior good by seamless travel to all points of the network (Schäfer, 2003).
The spreading of common costs for marketing over a larger number reduces the average costs of
marketing (Hanlon, 2003)
A well known limiting factor for increasing the size of the firm is the management factor
(Church and Ware, 2000). While alliances might be a way to increase the scarce factor of
effective management alliances can also create major diseconomies of size through management
problems. Kleymann and Seristo (2004, 26) explain the failure of alliances such as Swissair-
Qualiflyer, KLM-Alitalia, KLM-British Airways by factors such as overextension of financial
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resources, unwillingness of managers to cooperate, and strategic overlap so that no partner is
willing to play the specific role (for e.g. feeder role) in the alliance. Goel (2003) and Meyer
(2004) add further factors such as ill-defined common goals, asymmetric size of carrier,
divergent expectations on profitability. Another significant contributing factor to problems
associated with alliances is cultural differences, which are a major factor in the complexity of the
management of international firms. Oum et al. (2000) analyzed the effects of alliances on
productivity, air fares and profits. Overall they have found positive effects for what they call
major alliances like KLM/NWA and insignificant effects for minor alliances. Major alliances
increase total factor productivity by 4.9 %, lower revenues (due to lower fares) per output by 1.5
% and increase profitability by 1.5 %. In addition they benefit passengers directly by better
connecting times as for e.g. the alliances of Lufthansa/UA and KLM/NWA have reduced
average waiting times Oum et al (2000).
THE AVIATION INDUSTRY
The history of civil aviation of India may be traced back to the year 1933, when Tata Airlines
was formed by Mr. JRD Tata. At the time of Independence nine airlines were operational in the
Indian Territory. The number was then reduced to eight when Orient Airways shifted its base to
Pakistan. The then operational airlines were the Tata Airlines, Indian National Airways, Air
service of India, Deccan Airways, Ambica Airways, Bharat Airways and Mistry Airways. The
era of private airlines came to an end on 28th May 1953 - with the enactment of the Air
Corporations Act, 1953 - Government of India nationalised the airline industry. In accordance
with this Act, two air corporations, viz. Indian Airlines Corporation and Air India International,
were established and the assets of all the then existing nine air companies were transferred to the
two new Corporations. The operation of scheduled air transport services was made a monopoly
of these two Corporations and the Act prohibited any other person or their associates from
operating any scheduled air transport services from/to/ or across India.
In the year 1990, open-sky policy was adopted by the government and it allowed air taxi-
operators to decide their own flight schedules, cargo and passenger fares. (Tayagi 2011)
With the roads becoming congested day by day and the land transportation difficult, there is an
increasing scope in the air especially for India. The air space is still less exploited and its huge
potential is yet to be tapped. India has got the ninth largest aviation market in the world. But the
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industry is still in the initial stages of growth with very low air passenger per capita at 0.09 that is
lower than China and Australia. The 9th largest aviation market in the world is India with a
compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18 per cent. However, the Indian Aviation Industry is
still in a very nascent stage. India’s air passenger per capita at 0.09 is still abysmally low as
compared to 0.30 in China, 5.63 in Australia and 4.69 in US.( Tayagi ,E.. 2011)
In the last few years the scenario is being changing and researcher forecast a brighter tomorrow
for the aviation industry of India. The sector has seen aggressive policies, increase in the quality
of services and some big mergers and acquisitions which is intensifying the competition. The
industry is growing fast and with the liberalization of the sector it is presently dominated by the
private players. With the open sky policy adopted by the government of India opportunities were
opened not only for the overseas players but also for the Indian customers, for before
liberalization travelling by air was an opportunity only a few could enjoy.
Figure 1
Aviation Industry in India
Snapshot
Indian Aviation sector
Public players
Air India, Indian Airlines and
Alliance Air
Private players
Jet Airways, Air Sahara, Kingfisher Airlines, Spice Jet, Air Deccan, Go Air lines, Paramount
Airways
Start up players
Omega Air, Magic Air,
Premier Star Air & MDLR Airlines.
Regulatory Authorities
Ministry of Civil Aviation Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Airports Authority of India (AAI) Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA)
Legal Framework
The Aircraft Act, 1934
The Carriage by Air Act, 1972.
The Air Corporations Act, 1994.
The Civil Aviation Policy.
The Civil Aviation Requirements.
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HISTORY OF MERGER OF AIR INDIA AND INDIAN AIRLINES
The merger of Air India and Indian Airlines was an ambitious project by the government to
create one national carrier. The airlines were legally merged in August 2007 and together formed
National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL), earlier incorporated under the
Company’s Act 1956 on 30th March 2007. Shri V. Thulasidas took over as the Chairman and
Managing Director and Shri Vishwapati Trivedi as the Joint Managing Director of the merged
company (Aviation Center of excellence2007). It was estimated that with the combined fleet
and services the new airlines will be comparable to the best airlines in the Asian region and will
rank among the top 30 airlines in the world. The newspaper on 24th August 2007 Friday came
with headlines as Merger of Air India and Indian Airlines completed, reportedly ‘Air India’
launched its inaugural daily, non-stop Mumbai – New York flight with the first Boeing 777 200
LR aircraft. This was the first non-stop India – US flight by a domestic carrier. The new Boeing
777 aircraft was the first of the series to sport the new branding. In its latest report tabled in
Parliament in September, the public audit body also called the merger of two erstwhile state-run
carriers--Air India and Indian Airlines-- "ill-timed" and said that "the financial case for the
merger was not adequately validated prior to the merger". (PTI 2012)
Table 1
Chronology of events relating to the merger of AIL and IAL
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Source : Performance Audit Report on Civil Aviation in India (Ministry of Civil Aviation
2011-12)
(Directors Report 2008). The organization structure of the company consisted of the corporate
set up and 6 Strategic Business Unit in the following areas:
Passengers
Cargo
Maintenance Repair and Overhaul(MRO)
Ground handling
Low cost operations
Related Business
Ambition behind the merger
In an earnest attempt to pave way for the emergence of a single entity as India's National Flag
carrier, Indian Airlines and Air India, India's premier airlines were merged to form Air India to
provide an integrated international and domestic footprint, for the advantage of travelers. This
Indian Airlines and Air India merger has brought seamless integration of domestic and
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international flights, allowing passengers to check in for their international flight from any
domestic point in India.
Indian Airlines, in its new avtar of Air India can be identified with its key color as orange and a
contemporary graphic representation of a flying swan with the Konark Chakra placed inside it,
the imagery depicting traditional Indian hospitality and service. (Indian Airlines, Make my trip
.com )
Air India officials told the PAC that it was their idea to merge the two carriers as the 'open sky'
policy had increased competition in the aviation sector. The officials were grilled on their plan to
acquire 50 aircraft which quickly got the government's nod recently while their earlier plan to
buy 18 additional planes could not materialize even after six years. (PTI 2012)
In its latest report tabled in Parliament in September, the public audit body also called the merger
of two erstwhile state-run carriers--Air India and Indian Airlines-- "ill-timed" and said that "the
financial case for the merger was not adequately validated prior to the merger".(PTI 2012)
According to the consultant (Accenture), the merger was intended to (Performance Audit
Report on Civil Aviation in India)
Provide an integrated international/ domestic footprint, which would significantly
enhance customer proposition and allow easy entry into one of the three global airline
alliances;
Enable optimal utilization of existing resources through improvement in load factors and
yields on commonly serviced routes, as well as deploy ‘freed up’ aircraft capacity on
alternate routes;
Provide an opportunity to fully leverage strong assets, capabilities and infrastructure:
Parking bays and landing slots in an ‘infrastructure constrained’ environment;
Potential to launch high growth & profitability businesses {Ground Handling
Services(GHS); Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul (MRO) etc.};Potentially enable the
merged entity to command better valuation;
Operate a combined fleet strength (~112), which would be the largest in India and
comparable to other airlines in Asia/Region {Emirates (93), Singapore (118),
Malaysian(110);
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Provide maximum flexibility to achieve financial and capital restructuring through
revaluation of assets and cleaning up of financial books;
Besides the above, a merged airline would be in a better position to serve and promote the airport
hubs now being developed at the metro cities, pursuant to the airport restructuring and
modernization programme approved by the GoI, by providing seamless connectivity over
domestic and international networks.
According to the consultant, the following benefits were envisaged:
Net synergy benefits of Rs. 820 crore (against the integration cost of Rs. 200 crore) was
envisaged; potential recurring synergies were expected to enhance profitability by Rs.
600 crore at the end of the 3rd year of merger.
The merger would make the combined airline the largest in the country, improve
combined market share, result in a combined balance sheet (which would be important
for an IPO), and revaluation of assets of both airlines (which would be possible only after
a merger) and improve net worth.
Benefits
The key benefits according to Tayagi , 2011 that accrued to Indian Airlines and Air India on
account of this merger were as under:
· The merger had created a mega company with combined revenue of Rs. 15000 crores.
· The new entity had seen a number of changes in its operating model. It was much less restricted
by government control and is therefore much more agile and could churn better returns than the
two different entities.
· Since the two companies had come together, they had also been able to bring together their best
practices and reduced the overall operational cost as well as administrative cost by a considerable
margin.
· Air-India would have a combined fleet of 112 aircraft and would be among the top 10 airlines
in Asia and among the leading 30 airlines globally. (Tayagi 2011)
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Figure 2
Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation report 2009
Figure 3
Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation report 2009
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Figure 4
Indian Domestic passenger Load factor in Jan-09
Source : Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation report 2009
Table 3
Airlines Market Share
(in lakhs) Percentage share
Seat factor
(in %)
Air India (Domestic) 7.62 18.2 72.9
Jet Airways 7.66 18.3 74.2
Jet Lite 3.18 7.6 78.1
Kingfisher 8.98 21.4 75.8
Spice Jet 5.27 12.6 81.0
Paramount 0.13 0.3 85.0
Go Air 2.46 5.9 78.0
IndiGo 6.58 15.7 82.4
Source: Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)
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Figure 5
Progressive integration of networks and operations is expected to yield significant synergies
Source : Performance Audit Report on Civil Aviation in India (Ministry of Civil Aviation
2011-12)
Figure 6
Expected build- up of synergy benefits and integration costs
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Source: Performance Audit Report on Civil Aviation in India (Ministry of Civil Aviation
2011-12)
(Directors Report 2008).The company suffered a net loss of Rs.22,262 million vis -a -vis a
projected loss of Rs. 21,440 million in 2007-08. Total revenue achieved by the company was Rs.
152,575 million and total expenditure Rs. 185,555 million. After adjusting for deferred Tax
assets of Rs. 10,845 million the net loss registered was rs.22, 262 Million. This being the first
year of accounts there were no previous year’s figure represented. However comparison was
made based on projected figures of 2007-08. The loss was mainly due to the following factors.
i. Decline in passenger load factor
ii. Decline in Protected yield
iii. Increase in financing cost due to aircraft acquisition and working capital
iv. Increase in Depreciation expenditure and aircraft maintenance cost
v. Increase in Wage bill and other Staff cost
vi. Increase in Aviation Turbine Fuel Cost
Directors Report2008
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Directors Report2008
After merger issues
1. Fleet acquisition
2. Poor passenger services
3. Difference in pay structure and promotion policies
4. Integration of reservation system into air India took three year rather than estimated Nine
months.
5. Flying network not yet integrated
6. Opening of the sector by the government before Air India Could prepare for competition
7. Poor management by Arvind Jhadav
8. Poor negotiation process and tactics adopted by the management
9. Ego clashes between management and employees and between unions
10. Interference from ministry.
HR ISSUES
1. Lack of trained commanders. There is a severe shortage of trained commanders across
Indian carriers and this has been forcing airlines to hire expatriates – often those with less
than the best skills. If Air India sacks the striking pilots they can easily get jobs in other
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airlines within three months. But the pilots wanted to work for Air India and more so they
wanted recover their dues. (Mitra 2012)
2. Discrimination between pilots of Air India and Indian Airlines, with regards to pay
structure. "As we are aware, the AI is not only posting losses, it has also been unable to
pay salaries on time. Despite all of this, the management granted a salary raise to pilots of
the erstwhile IA," IPG said. (IANS 2012)
3. Discrimination between pilots of Air India and Indian Airlines, with regards to promotion
policy. The co-pilots of erstwhile IA are being promoted to captain's grade in five to six
years time, whereas the co-pilots of the AI take around 9-10 years for the same
promotion. (IANS 2012)
4. Discrimination between pilots of Air India and Indian Airlines with regards to training.
IPG said the management gave $2,000 per month hikes to all Indian Airlines pilots and
even decided to train them on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner without waiting for the report
of the Justice Dharmadhikari Committee. (IANS 2012)
The IPG pilots, who belong to the pre-merger Air India, are protesting the management’s
decision to train their colleagues from the erstwhile Indian Airlines on flying the long-
haul Dreamliner plane, the first of which is expected to arrive later this month. (PTI 2012
May 5)
The ICPA pilots, numbering about 650, have been demanding for long parity in service
conditions post the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines and also a clear path of career
progression after the merger.
Flying the Dreamliner has become a matter of prestige between the two sparring unions
— the IPG and the ICPA — as this would lay the ground rules for further climbing up the
organizational ladder, apart from skill and experience enhancement for the pilots.( PTI
May 5, 2012)
5. Poor management by Arvind Jhadav. , when Arvind Jadhav took over as managing
director of Air India he quashed the recruitment of additional cabin crew after the process
for it had been nearly completed. As a result, another eight months were spent hiring
cabin crew. During this period hundreds of flights had to be either cancelled or were
delayed, not because of a lack of pilots or planes but because of a lack of crew.( Mitra K
2012 .Maharaja in chains)
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6. Poor negotiation process and tactics adopted by the management. Instead of looking for
ways to resolve differences with the pilots who are on strike, the Air India management
and particularly Jadhav has decided to "teach the pilots a lesson". Matters have worsened
to such an extent that even the executive pilots of the airline, who are management cadre
pilots, have gone on strike in support of their colleagues. When Jet Airways pilots went
on strike a few years ago, Naresh Goyal, the airline's chairman, talking to pilots and
pleading with them to go back to work. But Jadhav has decided that he will not even talk
to the pilots. Even the Delhi High Court has noted this fact. It appears that the
management wants to make the pilots scapegoats for its successive failures. It was
looking for an alibi and feels that the pilots have provided it one.( Mitra K 2012
.Maharaja in chains)
7. Ego clashes between management and employees and between unions
8. Inter union rivalry. According to the management there were two aircraft at the centre of
the controversy - Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Boeing 777 - and who should be trained on
them. The unions were not in agreement whether pilots from Air India or Indian Airlines
should be trained on the two aircraft.( IBN Live.com 2012.)
9. Incomplete integration. One of the biggest challenges is that Air India and Indian Airlines
are working as separate entities since their merger in 2007. The merger, in fact, is only on
paper — this is the bone of contention. The expectations from the committee run very
high. But we do not have a magic wand. (Indian Express 2011)
OPTIONS
1. Privatization
BJP, have always argued in favor of privatization of Air India. If not full privatization, at
least a partial one can be carried out through disinvestment. This will bring in funds to
run the airline instead of the government constantly raiding taxpayers' money to feed it. (
Mitra 2012) One way forward is to privatize Air India, as was done earlier to British
Airways, Lufthansa and other “national carriers.” If this proves politically impossible,
then Air India should be allowed to lose market share and slide gently into insignificance.
That after all has been the fate of inefficient public sector corporation like Hindustan
Machine Tools, Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Ltd, and Heavy Engineering
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Corporation. Once called national champions, they have faded away, and India is the
better for it. Let Air India go the same way. (Swaminathan 2009)
2. Professionalisation
The management of Air India should also be professionalized. The airline should not be
allowed to become a training ground for officers of the Indian Administrative Service
who have no knowledge of the aviation. ( Mitra 2012)
3. Retrenchment
Air India lost Rs 5,000 crore last year, and is surviving on huge government handouts.
Opposition politicians are critical, but reject any cut in its bloated staff. Across the world,
airlines are reducing staff in the recession. But Air India staff—labor aristocrats paid
several times the average Indian wage–are unsackable. Instead Civil Aviation Minister
Praful Patel proposes to hive off surplus staff to some new corporations. Problem: the
new corporations, with the same faulty staff and culture, may suffer the same fate as Air
India. (Swaminathan S.2009)
SUMMARY AND AGENDA FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
Uncertainty is the biggest chaos creator. During the research it was found that the merger of air
India and Indian Airlines was done hastily. Also a professionalized method was not adopted to
deal with the integration; as such in the process hurried promises were made to the pilots, which
were not intended to be fulfilled. Secondly, it is professionally and ethically demanded from any
organization and management the promises made should be kept. During and after the merger
having clear lines of communication is very important. Bastien (1981) in his study finds that
quantity of communication; quality of communication (formal or collegial) and congruence of
communication are the three keys to manage uncertainty in mergers and acquisitions. Thus it
seems that the only way for management to deal with anxiety and uncertainty, that follows a
merger or acquisition announcement, is to communicate with employees as soon as possible
about all the anticipated effects of changes (Schweiger & Denisi, 1991). Massimilian (2001)
suggests that it is ideal for the acquirer to define structure and roles before choosing incumbents.
Without having, at least, a preliminary of reporting structure, it is extremely risky to announce a
merger, when the deal is closed one must tell people how the structure will look like and who
will report to whom. Until people know, the lion’s share of their energy and attention will be
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International Journal of Research in IT, Management and Engineering www.gjmr.org 158
devoted to speculation, instead of how to make 2+2 = 5.And this I consider as the greatest
mistake done by the management, passing on wrong information, not keeping on the words and
even bypassing government orders are all included in wrong communication styles. Thirdly
Management should also look out for transitional leadership strategy for dealing with the HR
issues. According to the findings of a survey conducted by Watson Wyatt (2000) on reasons for
success of mergers and acquisitions, the critical success factor was identified as leadership and
the role it played. Strong leadership is essential to acquisition success— perhaps a single most
important success factors (Schuler & Jackson, 2001). Fourthly, the management to go for a
successful HR integration should go for an internal brand makeover. Creating trust among the
employees is very important, and especially so in the service sector. Sineter’s (1981) study
reveals that initially workers experience shock, disbelief and grief. These emotions are followed
by resentment, anger and/or depression. As employees are stressed, they tend to show lesser
amount of organizational commitment (Marks & Mirvis” 1998). It is because, when an
organization ceases to exist or is fundamentally changed, the previous psychological contract is
either broken or becomes unclear (Cartwright & Cooper, 1990).
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