'The sacking was unpleasant': Rare clip of JRD on the pink slip that shook Air India

Aviation industry veteran and former Jet Airways CEO Sanjiv Kapoor shared a rare interview of Air India founder JRD Tata where he recalls the time when he was sacked from the airline's chairmanship by the Morarji Desai. 

"The way it was done was unpleasant for me," Tata said in the interview, adding that he was kept in the dark for nearly 12 days before he was handed over the pink slip. "I have never been fired, it was unexpected. Morarji was the PM of India." 

In his letter to JRD, Desai placed on record Tata's distinguished services to Air India and clarified that the change was not because of any lack of appreciation of his conspicuous work. In his reply, an upset JRD who had served Air India for a quarter-century without remuneration of a single rupee, stated: “I hope you will not consider it presumptuous of me to have expected that when the government decided to terminate my services and my forty-five years’ association with Indian civil aviation, I would be informed of their decision directly, and if possible, in advance of the public...”

The sacking had a deep impact on the morale of Air India employees. The MD resigned, and the cabin crew and officers’ associations protested. London’s Daily Telegraph dated February 27, 1978 carried the headline “Unpaid Air India Chief Is Sacked by Desai”. 

Desai’s decision brought him worst publicity since he took office as prime minister. In 1980, when Indira Gandhi came back to power, she reappointed JRD on the board of both airlines, though not as chairman.