KM Unni is acting COO, Air India

Mumbai: Embattled state-owned carrier Air India has moved to make some important appointments ahead of its board meeting on Tuesday by giving KM Unni, the airline's SBU- head (MRO- airframe), the additional charge of COO (chief operating officer).

The move comes immediately after Air India's erstwhile chief operating officer, Austrian national, Captain Gustav Baldauf, was given his marching orders last month after he made negative comments about the government's handling of the airline.

Baldauf's executive assistant, Satish Modh, head of the company's avionics unit, has now been despatched to Agartala.

Unni's appointment comes even as the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) has put up banners at Mumbai and Delhi airports, informing passengers about the association's impending strike call on 15 March.

The pilots association is meeting with the chief labour commissioner in Delhi on Tuesday to sort out wage matters.

Earlier, the airline union had deferred its strike call by a week following the intervention of the civil aviation minister.