Mumbai: Jalan Kalrock Consortium, the Successful Resolution Applicant and new proposed promoters of Jet Airways today announced the appointment of Sanjiv Kapoor as the Chief Executive Officer.
Sanjiv, who is currently President of Oberoi Hotels & Resorts, will be joining from April 4, 2022.
Prior to joining the Oberoi Group, Sanjiv was the Chief Strategy and Commercial Officer at Vistara, a TATA – Singapore Airline Joint Venture, from 2016 until 2019. During Sanjiv’s tenure, the airline grew from 9 aircraft and 40 flights a day to 38 aircraft and over 200 flights a day. All of Vistara’s revenue generating and customer facing functions, as well as strategy, network planning, marketing, loyalty, inflight services, ground services, and product development reported up to him.
Prior to Vistara, Sanjiv led SpiceJet, India’s second largest LCC, through its unprecedented turnaround in 2014-2015 as its COO and de facto CEO from November 2013 until October 2015, shepherding the airline through a period of record high oil prices and a cash crunch, to cultural and operational transformation, ownership change, and profitability within 15 months of assuming charge, in the process fundamentally changing the Indian airline industry in terms of its earlier approach to pricing, marketing, and customer delight.
Sanjiv, a Wharton MBA, started his airline career with Northwest Airlines (now merged with Delta) in the US in 1997, where he worked in finance and corporate planning. In 2004, Sanjiv joined Bain and Company (in Singapore, and subsequently in Dallas and London) as a leader in their airline practice, working with global airline clients on projects ranging from strategy and performance improvement/ turnaround, to network, alliances, and customer experience. Sanjiv’s previous employers include Temasek Holdings, Singapore, and Oracle Corporation.
Murari Lal Jalan, Lead Partner of the Jalan-Kalrock Consortium and proposed Non- Executive Chairman of Jet Airways said “I am happy to have Sanjiv join our team. Sanjiv is a people’s person and has all qualities of a great leader. I am certain he will be able to lead Jet Airways and make it become the most preferred full-service carrier of India. Sanjiv is a seasoned aviation professional who has the right blend and demeanour to stitch a team together.” Mr Jalan further said, “I always believe in investing in human capital and by having Sanjiv as the CEO and Vipula as the CFO, I am certain Jet Airways will reclaim its lost glory and surpass everyone’s expectation.”
Speaking on his accepting the role as the Chief Executive Officer, Sanjiv Kapoor said “I am looking forward to getting back to aviation, an industry I am passionate about, with Jet Airways, one of the warmest, classiest and most loved brands to have graced Indian aviation. Even though Jet Airways has been out of operation for three years, it still has a large fan base of loyal customers who miss it every day and can’t wait for it to take to the skies again. Working together with a very strong team of experienced aviation professionals that is being put together by the Jalan-Kalrock Consortium, I look forward to leading the charge in rebuilding Jet Airways into the most preferred customer-oriented airline once again, a people-focused airline for the digital age.”
Sanjiv is from Kolkata and did his schooling at La Martiniere. Sanjiv received his MBA in 1996 from Wharton (University of Pennsylvania), and his BA in 1990 in Computer Science and Government from Dartmouth College.
