Pradeep Singh Kharola, Former Civil Aviation Secretary, Appointed Senior Advisor to Air India

Pradeep Singh Kharola, a former Civil Aviation Secretary and 1985-batch IAS officer of the Karnataka cadre, has been appointed Senior Advisor to Air India, a role expected to draw on his extensive background in aviation policy and public administration.

Kharola's prior tenure as Civil Aviation Secretary placed him at the centre of national aviation policy formulation, including airport infrastructure development and airline regulatory matters, giving him direct familiarity with the policy and regulatory environment Air India now operates within following its privatisation and subsequent transformation under Tata Group ownership.

Senior Advisor roles of this kind at major airlines typically draw on a former civil servant's institutional knowledge of aviation regulation and government coordination, particularly valuable for an airline like Air India that continues working through the transition from state-owned to privately managed operations across regulatory, labour, and fleet modernisation dimensions.

Kharola's appointment adds to a broader pattern of retired senior civil servants taking advisory roles at major private and privatised enterprises, where their government relations experience and regulatory familiarity are considered valuable, particularly in sectors like aviation that remain closely regulated even after privatisation.

Air India has continued its post-privatisation transformation strategy, including fleet expansion, service quality improvements, and integration with other Tata Group aviation assets, work that benefits from advisory input grounded in the regulatory and policy landscape Kharola oversaw during his time as Civil Aviation Secretary.

His appointment reflects the airline's continued effort to combine private-sector operational management with senior advisory input experienced in handling government and regulatory relationships specific to India's aviation sector.

The appointment was made directly by Air India as part of its private management structure, distinct from the government appointment processes that governed Kharola's earlier civil service career.