At present the directors are appointed by the respective airlines.The board of Air India will now have the following: PV Jayakrishnan, secretary of civil aviation, as part-time chairman; MP Mascarenhas, managing director; Anil Baijal, who yesterday took over as chairman and managing director of Indian Airlines; PK Brahma, joint secretary and financial advisor, ministry of civil aviation; DV Gupta, chairman of Airports Authority of India, CEO of ICICI (by designation); four functional directors holding charge of finance, commercial, engineering and personnel.

There would be five non-official directors nominated by the government.Likewise, the IA board would comprise Anil Baijal,Mascarenhas, AP Singh, joint secretary of civil aviation, PK Brahma, DV Gupta, Industrial Development Bank of India (by designation) and also four functional directors and five non-official directors nominated by the government.Significantly, while the boards of the airlines have different members, continuity in the boards would be ensured through the functional directors.The representation of government directors has been brought down from three to two, apparently giving greater autonomy to the airlines.

Another significant feature is that AI board is headed by the secretary himself as part-time chairman with Mascarenhas functioning as a CEO. However, in the case of IA, the post of chairman and managing director has been clubbed.

It remains to be seen whether the government will nominate representatives from the industry and trade as non-functional directors.