Need to use Ahmedabad crash as ‘act of force' to build a safer Air India: Tata group chairman Chandrasekaran
Tata group and Air India Chairman N Chandrasekaran on Monday asked the airline's employees to stay strong and use last week's crash of the airline's Boeing 787-8 aircraft in Ahmedabad as 'an act of force to build a safer airline', according to sources. Chandrasekaran also told Air India employees that while the reasons behind the crash will be known only once the investigation is complete, they should 'stay the course' and not put their 'shoulders down' in the face of criticism.
Chandrasekaran addressed around 700 Air India employees and its leadership team on Monday at the company headquarters and its training academy in Gurugram. According to sources, he later met Civil Aviation Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu at the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) in the Capital, and held discussions.
'Criticisms are there, and those of us who are very passionate…who are working on making this airline a great airline, and who genuinely care about what kind of a company we want to build, but it's not easy to face criticisms. I want you to be strong. If you feel distraught, the word you should remember is determination. We are going to get through this. We need to show resilience. We need to use this incident as an act of force to build a safer airline,' Chandrasekaran is learnt to have said.
According to sources, the Tata group chairman told Air India staff that the Ahmedabad air crash is the 'most heartbreaking crisis' he has seen in his career. All but one of the 242 people on board the doomed aircraft perished in Thursday's crash. There were a number of casualties on the ground as well. The accidents was the worst aviation disaster involving an Indian carrier in four decades. It is also the first crash of the Boeing 787 globally.
'I went to the site on that day…it was not easy at all. I know many of you here in this room are part of the emergency response team, may be even at the site or were handling all the shocks of that day…Whatever I say and whatever we do is not going to bring the lives back. Those affected, they are going to feel the pain for a very long time. But having said that, we have got to do our very best humanly possible to help each of them,' Chandrasekaran said, according to sources.
'It's a very complex business…it's a complex machine, so a lot of redundancies, checks and balances, certifications, which have been perfected over years and years. Yet this happens, so we will figure out why it happens after the investigation. So we just have to stay calm and not put your shoulders down. This is the time to be brave, time to be resolute, time to know that you have the full support,' he is learnt to have told employees.
According to sources, the Tata group chairman assured Air India employees that the company will get through the current challenges, saying that their job is get Air India to a better place.
'Big things get done by small actions. Every small action that you do and is executed perfectly helps the collective thing flourish. That's why we continue to focus on doing each of our jobs and with all humility. That's what should be our goal. Just stay the course,' he said, as per sources.
Sukalp Sharma is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express and writes on a host of subjects and sectors, notably energy and aviation. He has over 13 years of experience in journalism with a body of work spanning areas like politics, development, equity markets, corporates, trade, and economic policy. He considers himself an above-average photographer, which goes well with his love for travel. ... Read More
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