While the ministry is in favour of appointing a bureaucrat to this post as has been done in the past, IA is pitching for an internal appointment this time around.

IA is citing the example of Air India, where the internal appointee Michael Mascarenhas was promoted to succeed bureaucrat Brijesh Kumar as managing director.

The ministry is expected to favour the appointment of joint secretary Anurag Goel to succeeed Baijal. However, IA is in favour of the post going to an airline man.

IA, though, has been unable to furnish a name for the top post as two deputy managing directors, Captain JRD Rao and Gurdeep Singh, retired recently.

Another deputy MD, NC Ghosh, an experienced airline hand who can be a contender for the CMD's job, is due to retire shortly.

Top airline officials feel that Ghosh should be given an extension so that he can fill-up the top post. Also, IA has conveyed to the ministry that the CMD's post should have at least a four-year tenure to bring stability to the airline.

Ironically, IA's top brass has cited the case of PC Sen, who was able to turnaround the airline due to his five-year tenure. Sen, incidentally, was a bureaucrat.

The question of stability of tenure has come-up as the civil aviation ministry is not in the habit of giving fond farewells to IA chiefs, who have fallen out with the ministry over some issue or the other.

PC Sen, it may be recalled, was sacked by former civil aviation minister Ananth Kumar for pursuing the idea of a merger between IA and Air India.

Anil Baijal has not found favour with the ministry too, despite giving a significant boost to IA's bottomline. Baijal has reportedly turned down a number of requests from the ministry to operate new flights or change current flight patterns. Baijal insisted on basing IA flights on commercial considerations.

He was also responsible for IA giving private airlines a run for their money in last year's fare war. Baijal recently said that he would not raise IA fares despite pressure form private airlines, insisting that the fares should now be market determined.

IA is expected to post a profit of more than Rs 50 core in 1999-2000. The 54-aircraft airline is in the middle of a fleet renewal programme which will be finalised by November. The fleet replacement will be funded by financialassistance from the Government to the tune of Rs 325 crore.