Air Asia advisor and mentor none other than MR Ratan Tata

Using his pervasive skills to the nutshell, Tony Fernandes, founder and chiefexecutive officer of AirAsia, on Sunday, said Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of TataSons, will be the chief advisor to AirAsia India, a new venture that Malaysian airline issetting up with the Tata’s as investors.

Tata Sons has a 30% stake in AirAsia India, with Arun Bhatia of Telestra Tradeplaceowning 21%. “I am pleased to announce @ratantata as the chief advisor to the board ofAirAsia India. A legend in every sense. Building a powerful team,” Fernandes posted onthe micro blogging site Twitter.

On May 15, AirAsia announced the name of its new CEO Mittu Chandilya, but is still toannounce the names of the top management line-up to steer its new venture.

What Fernandes did not say, however, was that his efforts to persuade Tata to becomethe chairman of the Indian venture failed. Tata, a certified pilot, has been very keen onthe Tata group entering civil aviation. An earlier initiative with Singapore Airlines, abouta decade ago, failed to go through after being infamously stymied by corporate lobbies.Fernandes had publicly proclaimed that he is keen to have Tata as the chairman of theairline.

Fernandes, however, alluded to another announcement in the making on Monday, whenhe plans to name the chairman. Giving little away, Fernandes told his over 3.34 lakhfollowers on Twitter: “Our chairman is someone who has redefined many parts of India.A towering man, who brings unbelievable experience to the AirAsia India board.”

AirAsia has submitted papers for government approval to fly, but its preparation for aSeptember date seems unlikely, as approvals from the government are likely to takelonger than anticipated.

One of the queries from the government was on the chairman of the airline and thenames of the senior officials who’ll take charge of critical functions. “AirAsia Indiashaping up brilliantly. Super CEO. Some great staff. A good board and now greatadvisor,” Fernandes added on Twitter.

Tata had retired from all positions in the Tata group on December 28, after attaining 75years. Admitting that persuading Tata was a task, Fernandes said: “Persuading Tata tobe an advisor has not been easy. It’s critical we have someone of his massiveexperience to help me chart AirAsia India with Mittu (Chandilya) and myself.”The board of Mumbai-registered AirAsia India has, apart from Fernandes, RVenkatraman, a former executive assistant to Ratan Tata; Bharat Vasani, the chief legalcounsel of the Tata group, and Telestra’s Arun Bhatia, the other Indian minoritystakeholder in AirAsia India.

Indicating that an aggressive pricing would be its trump card when AirAsia sets upoperations in India, Fernandes replied, “Yes, it’s all about low fares,” when he wasasked on the micro blogging site that with Ratan Tata as chief advisor and Tata’s aspartner, should we expect Nano price (cheapest) tickets from AirAsia India?

AirAsia seeking approvals from government and kick-starting the recruitment processfor cabin crew and office staff coincided with grounded Kingfisher Airlines’ promoterVijay Mallya informing striking employees that he has no money to pay their salarydues. “I don’t have the money to pay your salary arrears, because I cannot use theproceeds from the United Spirits-Diageo deal for this due to an injunction from theKarnataka High Court,” Mallya told staff.

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