Natarajan Chandrasekaran, the CEO of Tata Sons, was named chairman of Air India on Monday. The news comes just days after Ilker Ayci, the former chairman of Turkish Airlines, declined the Tata Group’s offer to lead Air India as CEO and managing director.
In October of last year, the Tatas purchased the domestic airline for $2.4 billion in cash and debt. After 69 years of state ownership, the Tata group purchased it from the federal government.
Chandrasekaran was the chairman of Tata Consultancy Services before becoming the CEO of Tata Sons. After Nowroji Saklatwala and Cyrus Mistry, he was the third non-Tata to hold the job.
In 1987, the 58-year-old Tata veteran began his career as a software programmer. He progressed through the ranks to become one of the Tata group’s youngest CEOs when he was only 46 years old.
