Mehmet İlker Aycı (born 1971,

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

) is a Turkish businessperson. Aycı was the advisor of

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...

in 1994 and served as the CEO of several Turkish companies before becoming the chairman of

Turkish Airlines Turkish Airlines (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Türk Hava Yolları''), or legally Türk Hava Yolları Anonim Ortaklığı, is the flag carrier of Turkey. , it operates scheduled services to 352 destinations (including cargo) in Europe, Asia, Oce ...

from 2015 to 2022. He accepted an offer as the Board Member of

Oman Air Oman Air () is the flag carrier of Oman. Based at Muscat International Airport in Muscat, it operates domestic and international passenger services, as well as regional air taxi and charter flights. History Background Oman was one of the four s ...

in April 2024.

Early and personal life

İlker Aycı graduated from the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at

Bilkent University Bilkent University () is a private non-profit research university located in Ankara, Turkey. It was founded by İhsan Doğramacı, the first president of the Council of Higher Education and the head of the prominent Doğramacı family, with th ...

before continuing his education at the Department of Political Science at the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

as a researcher. For a period starting from 1994, Aycı was the advisor of

, then mayor of

. On 19 November 2018, İlker Aycı married lawyer and sports commentator Tuğçe Saatman, where president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan acted as one of the wedding witnesses. Aycı speaks Turkish, English and Russian fluently.

Career

Aycı held several positions in the

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (, İBB) is the government agency in charge of the municipal affairs of the Istanbul Province. It is one of the 30 metropolitan municipalities in Turkey. History The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality ...

and served as the CEO of several insurance companies from 2005 to 2011. In January 2011, he was appointed as the President of the Prime Ministry Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Turkey. In February 2013, Aycı was appointed as the vice president of the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies, and was promoted in January 2014 to be the chairman. He held this position until 2015. İlker Aycı was an executive board member of

until April 2015, when he was appointed as chairman of the airline, replacing resigning Hamdi Topçu. On 26 January 2022, İlker Aycı resigned from his position as

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

of Turkish Airlines. During the board meeting the next day, Ahmet Bolat was appointed to replace him. Aycı held 14 to 17 positions at the same time in the airline and in its subsidiaries. On 14 February 2022, less than three weeks after his departure from Turkish Airlines, Aycı was appointed by

Tata Group The Tata Group () is an Indian multinational conglomerate group of companies headquartered in Mumbai. Established in 1868, it is India's largest business conglomerate, with products and services in over 160 countries, and operations in 100 c ...

to become the new CEO and managing director of

Air India Air India is the flag carrier of India with its main hub at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, and secondary hubs at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, alo ...

. He was due to take on the positions on 1 April, however in 1 March, Aycı announced that he had declined the offer due to widespread criticism in India.

Honors

Order of the Rising Sun, 3rd Class, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon (2021)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayci, M. Ilker 1971 births Living people Businesspeople from Istanbul Turkish Airlines Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 3rd class Turkish chief executives