Tata Sons' Chief N Chandrasekaran Appointed Air India Chairman

Tata Group has announced Natrajan Chandrasekarana will be the chairman of Air India, with his appointment confirmed by the board on Monday. 

Tata group had previously announced Turkey's Ilker Ayci as the chief executive of Air India, but that appointment was met with a lot of opposition in India.

As a result, Turkey's Ilker Ayci had declined to be the chief executive of Tata's Air India.

Mr Chandrasekaran is the Chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company and promoter of more than 100 Tata operating companies. He joined the Board of Tata Sons in October 2016 and was appointed Chairman in January 2017.

He also chairs the Boards of several group operating companies, including Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Power, and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) – of which he was Chief Executive Officer from 2009-17.

His appointment as Chairman followed a 30-year business career at TCS, which he joined from university. He rose through the ranks at TCS to become CEO and Managing Director of the leading global IT solution and consulting firm.

Mr Chandrasekaran became the first non-Parsi and professional executive to head the Tata Group.