May 24—Jet Airways on Monday announced that it has appointed four new senior executives days after aviation regulator DGCA granted a revalidated Air Operator Certificate, allowing the airline to resume commercial flight operations.
More than three years after it was grounded, Jet Airways is set to resume flights in September as it received the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) from the civil aviation regulator on Friday.
With Jet Airways ready to fly, the competition is likely to intensify among Indian carriers hit hard by various headwinds.
The airline has appointed Prabh Sharan Singh as chief digital officer, H R Jagannath as vice president of engineering, Mark Turner as vice president of inflight product and services and Vishesh Khanna as vice president of sales, distribution and customer engagement, it said in the statement
The airline said Singh will take charge on June 1, Jagannath has taken charge on Monday, Turner will take charge on June 15 and Khanna will join the airline some time in July.
Singh is currently a senior vice president at WNS Global Services.
"His (Singh) rich experience spanning nearly 20 years includes stints at Etihad Airways, where he worked as strategy and portfolio lead within the carrier's digital technology and innovation division, and at Kingfisher Airlines, where he worked as general manager — commercial alliances," the airline mentioned.
Jagannath has over 40 years of aviation experience and he most recently served as chief executive officer of Air India Engineering Services, it noted.
Turner — who also has more than 40 years of aviation experience — led Jet Airways' inflight services team between 2008 and 2011 and has held senior management positions at Gulf Air, Emirates, Qatar Airways and Fiji Airways, it said.
Khanna joins the airline from VFS Global Ltd, where he currently serves as Business Head e- Visa, it mentioned.
"He (Khanna) has nearly 30 years of experience in the aviation and travel sectors across B2C (business-to-customer) and B2B (business-to-business) sales, having held executive positions at various airlines in the past," it noted.
Founded by entrepreneur Naresh Goyal, the airline ran for about 25 years before it shuttered operations in April 2019 amid a massive cash crunch. The carrier is now owned by a consortium of UAE-based businessman Murarilal Jalan and British investor Kalrock Capital.
In June 2021, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved an insolvency resolution plan submitted by the Jalan-Kalrock consortium paving the way for the airline's revival.
Jet Airways was the first airline to be revived through the NCLT-monitored bankruptcy resolution process.
The fresh AOC received by Jet Airways has a one-year validity, according to a copy of the certificate reviewed by Mint.
Jet Airways' previous AOC under the ownership of Goyal was issued on 13 February 1995 and expired after the airline was grounded in 2019.
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