Mr. Alan Mulally has recently been appointed as the new President and CEO of the Ford Motor Company of Michigan, USA. Until August this year Mr. Mulally was President and CEO of the Boeing Commercial Airplanes Company based in Seattle, USA.
In their capacities as Chief Executive Officers (CEO’s) of Air India and of Boeing, Messrs. Thulasidas and Mulally have been accused of irregularities in the $11 billion Air India / Boeing business deal. The elephantine deal effectuates Air India’s expansion programs with Boeing’s new generation aircraft.
It is alleged that, acting for the two companies, Messrs. Thulasidas and Mulally illegally suppressed information about violations of flight safety by Air India, which information is severely damaging to Air India. It is alleged that these gentlemen (acting through deputies) intimidated and coerced pilots not to make known management-instigated violations of the Indian Aviation Act, and not to report these violations to the Director General of Civil Aviation where they may be addressed and corrective action introduced.
Although the Boeing Commercial Airplanes Co. generally encouraged and worked towards high standards of aviation safety, in this instance the company, acting under Mr. Mulally’s leadership, instead protected its commercial interests in the $ 11 Billion transaction and cooperated with Air India in the illegal cover up of the irregularities.
However, amongst the pilots so coerced and intimidated was a Boeing Manager and Senior Instructor Pilot who felt compelled, in the interests of Flight Safety, to make known these irregularities and violations of the Aviation Act and criminal statutes. Captain Anthony Keyter took the unusual step to file Public Interest Litigation against Mr. Thulasidas in the Supreme Court of India. He also filed criminal charges and injunctions against Messrs. Thulasidas, Mulally and others, in both the Supreme Courts of India and the United States, where the abovementioned allegations are made. The criminal complaint and the injunction have subsequently been illegally removed from the US Supreme Court Records. The Indian Supreme Court is yet to take action on the crimes.
In the public interest, the media may wish to monitor the developments around the two gentlemen involved in this case, Air India CEO Mr. Thulasidas and the new Ford Motor Company CEO, Mr. Alan Mulally.
