Mr. Nikos Kardassis | Chief Executive Officer Mr. Kardassis, who was formerly the CEO of Jet Airways from 1994 to 1999 brings with him a wealth of experience of both the Aviation industry and the financial services.
Mr. Kardassis began his career with TWA, holding various finance and operational positions. He has over two decades of extensive leadership and business management experience. He joined Merrill Lynch from General Electric where he served as President for GECAT. Mr. Kardassis was also the Managing Director and Head of Business Development and Distribution for the Global Bank Group at Merrill Lynch.
Prior to his current assignment, Mr. Kardassis had served as Senior Vice President, The Americas for Jet Airways, and was closely involved in the restructuring, cost / network management of the airline and was working as Senior Advisor to the Chairman on both Finance and Strategy.
Mr. Abdulrahman Albusaidy | Group Executive Officer Mr. Abdulrahman Albusaidy, an Omani national, joined Jet Airways in September 2007. He holds a degree in Aviation Management from the Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, USA and an MBA from University of Strathclyde, Scotland. He has a rich experience of over 25 years in the aviation industry. Prior to joining Jet Airways, Mr. Albusaidy has held various senior management positions like Executive Vice President - Marketing of Gulf Air based in Bahrain where he worked for over 19 years and Chief Executive Officer of Oman Air in Muscat where he worked for over 5 years. He was also one of the Directors in the board of Jet Airways during its formative years from 1994 to 1997. He is in charge of all the functions of Gulf and Middle East region, a traffic segment of growing importance to Jet Airways.
Mr. Sudheer Raghavan | Chief Commercial Officer Mr. Sudheer Raghavan, a Singaporean national, joined Jet Airways in September 2007 as an Executive Vice President – Commercial. He holds a Bachelor of Technology degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India and a Master degree in Air Transport Engineering from Cranfield Institute of Technology, United Kingdom. Mr. Raghavan brings with him more than 26 years of wide experience in Hotel and Airline industries. He has held various senior management positions like President in Millennium & Copthorne Hotels in the USA, Chief Operating Officer - Middle East & North Africa in Millennium & Copthorne Hotels in UAE and his last assignment in the Singapore Airlines Group, where he worked for 24 years, was Sr. Vice President – Sales & Marketing, SIA Cargo. In his current assignment, Mr. Raghavan looks after the commercial activities of the Company that include Marketing & Advertising and Sales & Distribution, E Commerce, Jet Privilege Programme, Cargo Management, Commercial Strategy, and Commercial Supplies. He is also responsible for all functional activities related to Inflight Services & Customer Services for both domestic and international operations.
Capt. Hameed Ali | Chief Operating Officer Capt. Hameed Ali, a Bahraini national, joined Jet Airways in October 2007 as an Executive Vice President – Operations and Engineering. He holds a degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Britain Air University and has over 31 years of experience in the Flight Operations and Technical Services areas in the airline industry. Capt Hameed is a professional pilot with more than 10,000 hours of flying on various Jets, Tristar L1011, Boeing 767/737 and Airbus 320/330/340. He also has an extensive experience in both the Engineering and the Flight Operations areas and has held various Executive and Managerial positions including that of Vice President - Operations in Gulf Air, where he worked for over 30 years. He is a qualified Examiner on various Boeing and Airbus fleet and was also a member on Boards of various companies. At Jet Airways, Capt Hameed oversees the Flight Operations and Engineering areas of the airline.
Mr. Ravishankar Gopalakrishnan | Chief Financial Officer Mr. Ravishankar Gopalakrishnan, an Indian national joined Jet Airways in October 2012 as Chief Financial Officer. He is qualified Chartered Accountant and a Cost Accountant with more than 23 years of rich experience in the areas of Strategic Planning, Finance & Risk Management, Investor Relationships and Corporate Governance. At Jet Airways, he will be responsible for all fiscal management aspects of Company’s business and its wide ranging global operations. Mr. Ravishankar Gopalakrishnan has worked with GE India between 1994 & 2007 both in their financial services and Healthcare business. When he left GE India, he was the Chief Financial Officer of GE Healthcare, South Asia, business based out of Bangalore. Prior to joining Jet Airways, he was associated with TVS Capital Funds, a Private Equity Asset Management company, based out of Chennai, where he was the Executive Director & Chief Financial Officer.
Mrs. Anita Goyal | Executive Vice President – Network Planning & Revenue Management Mrs. Anita Goyal, an Indian National, has over 25 years of experience in Marketing and Sales and other functions in the Airline Industry. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree with specialization in Political Science and Sociology. She was associated with the Company since its inception. Her last assignment was Executive Vice President-Marketing and Sales of the Company, wherein she was in charge of the Company’s Marketing and Sales function. Her achievements are reflected by the spectacular growth in the network and of the operations of the Company and her contribution has helped the Company maintain its 'Most Preferred Airline' status, due to the high quality of its product, convenient flight timings and connections, the innovative customer loyalty programme and various fare schemes. The many awards won by the Company in India and abroad include a significant number specifically related to Marketing and Sales. Before her previous tenure with the Company, Mrs. Anita Goyal had a distinguished career with Jetair Private Limited, India’s largest General Sales Agent ("GSA"). She joined Jetair Private Limited in 1975 and rose to head its Sales function.
Gerry Oh is an experienced travel industry professional with a deep appreciation of travel and tourism. He spent several years in Singapore Airlines and subsequently in Millennium & Copthorne Hotels plc, one of the largest owned and managed hotel groups worldwide before joining Jet Airways in July 2007. As Vice President Asia Pacific for Jet Airways, he has regional P&L accountability for the airline including responsibility for growing the airline’s presence, increase distribution, establish bilateral cooperation / joint ventures, open up new routes and generate sustainable demand. Gerry began his airline career as an engineer in Singapore Airlines and subsequently moved to Marketing Planning. He accumulated nearly 11 years of field management experience as Country General Manager/State Manager in various parts of Europe, USA, South Asia and Australia. Later as head of Singapore Airline’s strategic alliances unit he played a key role to bring the airline into Star Alliances. He then was appointed SIA’s Vice President for Marketing Communications and Development and subsequently became the airline’s Vice President for Global Sales & Distribution. Gerry was also Senior Vice President Global Sales & Marketing for the worldwide chain Millennium & Copthorne Hotels from 2004 to 2007.
Mr. Gaurang Shetty | Sr. Vice President – Commercial Mr. Gaurang Shetty, an Indian national, is a Bachelors in Science with over 32 years experience in the aviation industry. He joined the Company in 1996 as General Manager - Marketing and was promoted to Vice President - Marketing in 2004. Currently, at Jet Airways he is Sr. Vice President - Commercial and is responsible for all commercial activities related to In-flight Services & Customer Services including Cargo for both domestic and international operations. Prior to joining the Company, he was with British Airways as its Marketing Manager - South Asia, where he was responsible for passenger marketing, customer service and cargo.
Mr. K. G. Vishwanath | Vice President – Commercial Strategy and Investor Relations Mr. K. G. Vishwanath, an Indian national, is a qualified Chartered Accountant. He joined the Company in November 1998 as a Management Trainee and has grown to become a Vice President in 10 years. His current role includes management accounting, budgeting, financial forecasting, developing and monitoring strategies relating to the commercial aspects of the business. Additionally, he is also responsible for the Investor Relations function in the airline. He has been involved in many strategic projects at Jet Airways including Fleet and route selection, Aircraft financing, Capital raising, International operations rollout, in addition to his current role. He has been associated very closely with the Chairman and the members of the Board during the Initial Public Offering (IPO) exercise and has been handling the Investor Relations portfolio since then. He was also involved in the core team, which worked on the acquisition of Air Sahara in April 2007. Vishwanath is a very passionate classical musician and a performing artist. Having trained for over 20 years and having performed widely with many concerts to his credit, he also has a fusion band of his own.
Dato K. Jeyakanthan | Sr. Vice President - Aircraft Projects & Product (Technical) Dato K. Jeyakanthan, a Malaysian national, is an Honors graduate in Aeronautical Engineering from Hatfield University, London. He joined Malaysian Airline Systems in 1971 in the Technical Services department. In a career spanning over 30 years, he has wide ranging experience in Quality Assurance and Sales and Marketing with Malaysian Airlines. He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society of the U.K. and a Chartered Engineer of the U.K. His last position with Malaysian Airlines System before joining Jet Airways in March 1998 was Manager - Engineering Marketing and Sales. He was bestowed the title of Dato by his Royal Highness Sultan of Pahang, Malaysia in 2001. At Jet Airways, Dato Jeyakanthan is over-all in charge of Engineering and Maintenance functions.
Ms. Sonu Kripalani | Vice President - Sales (India) Ms. Sonu Kripalani, an Indian national, joined the company in February 1993. She is a graduate in Psychology from Elphinstone College, Mumbai and a Diploma in Travel and Tourism Management from KC College of Management Studies, Mumbai. She has over 23 years of experience in the travel field in domestic and international sales, reservation and ticketing gained through reputed travel agencies. She currently heads the Passenger Sales department in the capacity of Vice President –Sales (India) and her position entails monitoring and delivering passenger revenues, yield and revenue performance, initiating pricing policies and setting up procedures for the sales department. Her role also involves close co-ordination with service delivery departments like airport services, in-flight, catering in order to ensure maintenance of standards of customer service. Ms. Kripalani is also actively involved in the development of the strategic vision of the company, ensuring growth and profitability of the organisation.
Mr. Mohammad Ali El Ariss | Vice President – Cargo Mr. Mohammad Ali El Ariss, a Lebanon national, joined the company in July 2012. He has graduated from the from the American University of Beirut. He has over 36 years of experience in the global airline industry in the cargo function. He has worked with leading carriers Trans Mediterranean Airways, Kuwait Airways, Gulf Air and Eithad Airways. At Jet Airways, Mr. El Ariss is in-charge of the entire Cargo operations.
Mr. Raj Sivakumar | Sr. Vice President – Alliances and Planning Mr. Raj Sivakumar, an American national of Indian origin, joined the Company in August 2007. He holds a Master of Management Studies degree from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, India, followed by Master of Science and Doctorate of Philosophy in Operations Research from State University of New York at Buffalo, USA. Mr. Sivakumar has over 15 years of experience in United Airlines with leadership roles in Revenue Optimization, Research and Development, Information Technology and Strategic Sourcing. In his current assignment, Mr. Sivakumar is responsible for Yield Management, Pricing, Network Planning and related functions for the entire Jet Airways network.
Dr. Samar B. Srivastava | Vice President – Human Resources Dr. Samar B. Srivastava, an Indian national, joined Jet Airways in October 2010 as Vice President - Human Resources.
Dr. Srivastava is a PhD and MPhil in Human Resources Management from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. He has held several positions of responsibility in the areas of Human Resource Development, Industrial Relations, Management Development, Business Process Improvement, Quality Management, Business Excellence and Corporate Social Responsibility. He also holds the distinction of successfully integrating and managing a multi-cultural global workforce. In a distinguished career spanning over more than two decades, he has worked with corporate institutions like Tata Steel and Tata Ryerson within the Tata Group, post which he joined Crompton Greaves as General Manager – Human Resources. Dr. Srivastava has been associated with the eminent B Schools as a visiting faculty and has associated actively with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII - Western Region).
Mr. Ashok Barimar | General Counsel & Vice President - Legal Mr. Ashok Barimar, an Indian national, joined the Company in June 1999. He is responsible for all legal matters and litigation cases involving the Company. He holds an LLB Degree and also a Diploma in Business Management. He has been a practicing advocate and has worked with several reputed business houses such as the Birlas and the Hindujas. His last assignment was with Satyam Computers. At Jet Airways, Mr. Barimar is in-charge of the all the Legal matters of the Company.
Ms. Ragini Chopra | Vice President – Corporate Communication and Public Relations Ms. Ragini Chopra, an Indian national, joined the company in June 2004. She is a management graduate from the Oberoi School of Hotel Management. Ms. Chopra has spent 28 years with the Oberoi Hotels and Resorts in various functions ranging from Operations, Sales and Marketing, Business Development and Corporate Communications. She has wide exposure in the fields of travel hospitality and tourism. In her current role, she is responsible for corporate communication and maintaining public relations.
Mr. A K Sivanandan | Vice President – Public Relations Sivanandan’s career graph kept pace with the challenging growth of Indian Aviation from the piston engine Dakota age to the modern era of Wide-body jets. A post Graduate in Journalism, A.K Sivanandan began his career as a sub-editor with Indian News Service in 1961. Later, joined “Indian Express”, Madras. Besides, being credited with reporting top political leaders of yesteryears, his several published articles, earned him rave reviews. A journalist turned PR professional, he joined Indian Airlines in 1966 as the first PRO of its Southern Region. He was later transferred to Indian Airlines headquarters Delhi in 1970 where he rose to the position of Head of Public Relations. Besides, executing various challenging assignments, he edited the magazines “Image” and inflight journal “Swagat”. He participated in various global PR Conferences, Congresses and Seminars. An active member of several professional bodies and a Fellow of the Aeronautical Society of India, he was honoured by the Press and Public Relations Association of India with the “Best Public Relations Man” of the year award in 1991. Presently he is Vice President (PR) in Jet Airways where he joined in 1993. With his rich and varied experience in the aviation field and having been a hardcore PR professional for almost five decades, he has been consistently rendering yeomen services to Jet Airways. A certificate was presented to him by Mr. Naresh Goyal, Chairman in 2009 “in recognition of 15 years of meritorious service”. He was inducted to “PRCI Hall of Fame” the same year by the PRCI, for his outstanding contributions to the Public Relations profession at a function in Bengaluru.
Mr. Krishnan Balakrishnan | Vice President – Fleet and Management Control Mr. Krishnan Balakrishnan an Indian national, joined the Company in April 2012 as Vice President – Fleet and Management Controls. He is qualified Chartered Accountant and a Cost Accountant with more than 19 years of rich and diverse experience in the field of Finance and commercial strategy. In his current assignment, he will be responsible for aircraft acquisition, leasing and contracts and for legal compliances, commercials, tax issues and negotiations thereof. He would also be in charge for controls within the Engineering & Maintenance department and Flight Operations department.
Mr. Manish Dureja | Vice President - Marketing Mr Manish Dureja an Indian National, joined the Company in May 1999 as a Marketing Manager. He has a diversified experience of 15 years in Marketing, CRM, Loyalty, Business Development, Pricing, & Revenue Management. In the year 2007 he was deputed to Jet Airways, United States of America, where he was responsible for the Marketing & Sales function during the initial startup phase. In April 2011 he moved back to India as Vice President - Marketing. Currently he is responsible for Passenger Marketing, In-flight Entertainment, design and development of Products, Ancillary Revenues and JetPrivilege.
Mr. Arun Kanakal | Company Secretary and Associate Legal Counsel Mr. Arun Kanakal, an Indian national, joined the Company in August 2012. He holds a Bachelors degree in Commerce as well as in Law. He is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India. Mr. Kanakal has a wide experience of over 20 years encompassing Secretarial matters and compliances, IPOs and investor relations activities with leading companies like Patni Computer System Limited and Essar Steel Limited. At Jet Airways, he is responsible for all the Secretarial functions of the Company. Additionally, he will also support the General Counsel and Vice President - Legal on the Company's Legal matters.
Mr. Bram Steller | Executive Vice President - International Sales & Services Mr. Bram Steller, a Dutch national, joined Jet Airways in June 2012 as an Executive Vice President - International Sales & Services. Bram has been the Chief Executive Officer of Air Seychelles Limited since October 1, 2011. He served as the Chief Operating Officer of Kenya Airways Ltd. from 2008 to September 2011. He was also its Commercial Director in an earlier stint from 2000 to 2001. He served Jet Airways from 2002 to 2003 as its Executive Vice President of Commercial and Managing Director of Trans-Maldivian Airways from 2003 to 2008. He grew up from the ranks in KLM Royal Dutch Airlines in a 25 year career that culminated in his last position with KLM in 2000 as Vice President Middle East, Central and South Asia based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Bram has a wealth of airline experience in networking, scheduling, marketing, sales, cargo, in-flight and ground services and holds an MBA in Organizational Consultancy and Marketing Strategy and a Bachelor's Degree in Electronics Engineering.
Mr. Emmanuel Menu | Vice President - Continental Europe, Americas & Canada Mr. Emmanuel N. Menu, a Belgian national, joined Jet Airways in May 2005 as General Manager for the United Kingdom and became Regional Vice President for Continental Europe since 2008. Before that, Emmanuel has been the General Manager of CR Industrial Services in Thailand from 2003 to 2005. He served as Vice President for Europe South and East at Brussels Airlines from 2001 to 2003. His earlier stint was with Swissair as General Manager in France. He headed also Swissair / Sabena Global Sales as Vice President from 1999 to 2001. He served Sabena, from 1989 to 1999 as General Manager in Spain, also Corporate Sales Manager in Belgium, after having started his airline career in Africa as Country Manager for 6 years. Emmanuel has a 21 years of airline experience in sales, marketing and airport operations, and holds an Master of Management and a Business Degree.
Mr. Belson Coutinho | Vice President - eCommerce & Innovations Belson Coutinho, an Indian National, joined the company in 1999 and is currently the Vice President – eCommerce & Innovations. With over eighteen years in the aviation industry, Belson is an experienced airline professional having managed key roles in loyalty marketing and product development. He has spearheaded the set up of the global – digital marketing, social media, eCommerce and innovation strategy for Jet Airways and JetKonnect. His current role entails product design, development & marketing of the internet, IVR & mobile solutions, portal management, web sales, digital marketing, social media, risk management, alternate payments, self-service check-in, ticketing & technology solutions and ancillary revenue. Belson is a member of various industry and business leaders’ committees and has been conferred with multiple industry leading awards for his contribution to eCommerce and digital marketing.
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