Rift in IA top brass surfaces

When contacted by The Indian Express, Rao refused to comment and said: 8220;You write whatever you like8221;. Chaman Lal Gupta, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, who is in charge of Alliance Air, when asked to comment said: 8220;It is an internal matter which has been sorted out8221;. Baijal who left for an official visit to the Gulf on Saturday was not available for comments.

The resignation drama was sparked off following a dispute over the deputation of a pilot inAlliance Air, a subsidiary of IA, which Rao heads. Rao had said that the pilot who was already on deputation in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation DGCA from Vayudoot could not be given another deputation term in Alliance Air when Baijal overruled him on this. An irate Rao then reportedly said he was putting in his papers which he subsequently did.

Later, a frantic Baijal tried hard to persuade him to relent. The issue of the pilot8217;s deputation has now been shelved as Rao said that he would not withdraw his resignation if Baijal prevailed upon him.

A sense of unease prevailed among IA directors over the weekend as the news of Rao8217;s decision spread. Several officials came to work even on Saturday 8212; a Government holiday 8212; as rumours spread around.