In fact, he says, this kind of daily interference by the minister and his officials in the working of the airlines in the past has resulted in sagging profits and morale of the staff.

"Even as the minister is talking about privatisation of the airline, at the same time he is sacking the professional board without even having the decency to take the directors into confidence," says he. "We came to know about the so called `reconstitution' of theboard only through the newspapers reports and till date the minister did not had the decency to send us a thank you note for investing so much of time and energy," he adds.

Directors like Ajit Kerkar, Deepak Parekh and Inder Sharma who are success stories in their respective fields were summarily dismissed by the minister just to settle his score with P C Sen, the former chairman and managing director of the Indian Airlines.

In fact, a former IA director confirmed that the board was under intense pressure from the minister to approve the 50-seater aircraft deal in favour of ATR. "The theory floated by the ministry that merger deal led to sacking of the board is an eyewash," he adds.

"There was no move to merge the airlines. Instead, we had said yes to float a holding company which would not have cost any money or manpower. We just wanted to take the advantages of the strength of both Air India and Indian Airlines. This idea was going on for the last six months as per a report prepared by an independentfirm - A F Ferguson and the government, if it wanted could have reversed the decision," he said.

"There is a way of doing things. There is no decorum in reconstituting the board and then leaking it to news agencies," he said.

According to him, now with more IAS officials at the helm of both airlines, the disinvestment will not fetch good price. "Let me see how any domestic or international investor puts money into an airline which is run by inexperienced bureaucrats," he said.

In fact, this is not the first time the minister has acted in an untrained manner. Earlier, the minister had sacked the managing director of Hotel Corporation of India (HCI), Kamal Sharma, without giving him a chance to explain his position.

"The politicians and the bureaucrats are ruining the national treasure like Air India and Indian airlines. This is not the first time that vested interests have taken its toll in the financial of a public sector unit. This government and its ministers are as good or bad as the previousones," he said.