Dutta: New flight path

New Delhi, July 10: Former United Airlines chief Rono Dutta has taken over as president and chief executive of Sahara Airlines.

Dutta takes over from U. K. Bose who is tipped to take over as the head of Sahara group’s housing corporation.

The move follows a decision to expand the small airline into a bigger player that plans to emerge as an pan-Asian airline if it is allowed to start overseas operations.

Sources said Dutta, who had earlier been approached to take on a consulting job with Sahara, has now agreed to take over as the CEO. On Saturday, Dutta began a series of meetings with senior Sahara Airline executives.

Dutta, who served as the president of United Airlines between 1999 and 2002, is an alumni of IIT Kharagpur and Harvard Business School. The 52-year-old aviation industry whiz-kid had spent his childhood in Shillong and later in Calcutta.

Dutta had left United Air after the employee-owned airline took a financial beating in the wake of a global crash in the aviation business.

At United, the world’s largest airline, Rono Dutta had handled financial planning and analysis before taking over as president. Before joining UAL in 1985, Dutta had worked for management consulting firm Booz-Allen & Hamilton.

Sahara, which currently flies around 20 jets, a mix of Boeing 737s and smaller Bombardier short-haul aircraft, wants to induct at least half a dozen more B737s either of the 400 or the 800 series.

Sahara’s move to augment its fleet has been in the incubator for some years. The group, it seems, has now suddenly put the acquisition programme on the fast track because of the news that the government is finalising the purchase of Airbus aircraft to revamp the ageing fleet of Indian Airlines.

Sahara’s plans are to fly new planes on the trunk routes within the country as well as on air routes to South East Asia which may be opened up soon.