Ashwani Lohani appointed new Air India chief

Ashwani Lohani, Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers (IRSME) official, was appointed as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of national carrier Air India Ltd, for three years.He will be replacing Rohit Nandan, whose extended tenure ends tomorrow.The Appointments Committee of Cabinet has approved appointment of Mr. Lohani, a 1980 batch IRSME officer, as CMD, Air India Ltd, for tenure of three years, an order issued by Department of Personnel and Training said.He is presently working as Managing Director of Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation, in Bhopal.The first extension came on August 11, last year, after he completed a three-year term at the helm of Air India, steering it through a difficult phase of merger.Following this, the Civil Aviation Ministry had sought his continuation in the post crediting Mr. Nandan with improving the performance of the loss-making airline and successfully making Air India a member of the 27-member global airlines grouping, Star Alliance.