Biman prefers go-slow policy to pick good MD

The government has decided to follow a go-slow policy to 'carefully' select the next managing director and chief executive office for the national flag carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines.
"We've to choose the next Biman MD carefully," Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon told UNB over phone on Monday.
He said the sub-committee formed for selecting the Biman MD is working and it has already made a shortlist from among those who showed their interest to be the next boss of the national flag carrier.
"The sub-committee will sit day after tomorrow in this regard," he said.
Responding to a query how long the process will take to pick the next MD for Biman, the minister declined to give any specific date.
Meanwhile, Biman has received 40 applications for its vacant post of managing director and chief executive officer.
The sub-committee headed by Civil Aviation Secretary Khurshed Alam Chowdhury will make a short-list from the applicants.
According to sources at Biman, a total of 26 foreign nationals and 14 Bangladeshis showed their interest in taking over the charge of Biman.
Biman, a losing concern for the last couple of years, invited applications from deserving Bangladeshi and foreign nationals for the post on April 9. The last date for submission of applications was May 16.
Candidates aged between 45 and 60 years and having a minimum of 20 years of experience in aviation, including 10 years in a senior management or directorial position and with detailed knowledge of airline marketing were asked to apply.
The post of the MD and CEO of Biman has been lying vacant since April 17 last as the first-ever foreign MD of the national flag carrier Kevin Steele resigns from his post showing personal reasons.
Steele was appointed the CEO and MD of Biman in March 2013 for a two-year term. For the first time in Biman's history, Kevin Steele, a foreign national, joined the national carrier on March 13, at a monthly salary of Tk 18.3 lakh. The British national has also been provided with a flat in a posh area of capital Dhaka to stay, transport facilities and 12 free business-class tickets a year.
AM Mosaddique Ahmed, a director of Biman, is currently serving as the acting managing director and CEO.
A well-placed source at the Biman said the aspirant candidates will face a preliminary interview at first. Of the applicants who are living aboard will face the interview through videoconferencing.
Later, the short-listed candidates will be given a special problem-solving assignment to prove their ability for the post. Based on their performance, candidates will be invited for the final interview.
Meanwhile, on April 20, Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Rashed Khan Menon while holding a meeting with the high-ups of the national flag carrier emphasised finding out a local person for appointing as the managing director.
"We want to pick a person from the country, if we fail to find out one from home we'll then go out. If a foreigner can run Biman as MD then why can't we do it," Menon told the meeting at then.