Jet Airways

Mr. Nikos Kardassis, has taken over as Acting Chief Executive Officer of the company. 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.

In the past 18 months Mr. Kardassis has served as Senior Vice President, The Americas for Jet Airways, and has been closely involved in the restructuring, cost / network management of the airline and has been working as Senior Advisor to the Chairman on both Finance and Strategy.

Mr. Saroj K. Datta, Executive Director, Jet Airways (India) Ltd., completed his education at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, with a post-graduate degree in Economics. After a two-year stint at the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) in New Delhi, Mr. Datta joined Air-India in November 1962. During his tenure with Air-India, Mr. Datta worked in various sections of the Commercial and Planning Departments of the airline. In 1980, he was appointed Deputy Director, Planning and International Department with overall charge of the Department. Mr. Datta joined Kuwait Airways in 1987 as the Planning and Economic Advisor. He returned back to India in September 1990 following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. In early 1991 he joined the Jetair Group of Companies, India’s largest General Sales Agent, in Mumbai as its Executive Director. Since early 1992, Saroj Datta has headed the Jet Airways project to set-up a private domestic airline conceived by Mr. Naresh Goyal, Chairman of the Jet Airways group following the liberalisation of the Civil Aviation Policy by the Government of India. Mr. Datta has brought to bear his many years of aviation experience into this project. Assisted by a group of dedicated professionals, Mr. Datta has meticulously coordinated the various activities leading to the setting-up of the airline culminating in the launch of Jet Airways, a leading private domestic airline in India on May 5, 1993. Mr. Datta is a member of the Board of Jet Airways and is the Executive Director of the airline.

Mr. Abdulrahman Albusaidy, Group Executive Officer, 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 function of Gulf and Middle East region, a traffic segment of growing importance to Jet Airways.

Mr. Sudheer Raghavan, Chief Commercial Officer, 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, Security 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, 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.

Mrs. Anita Goyal, Executive Vice President – Network Planning & Revenue Management, 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.


Mr. Gerry Oh, Regional Vice President – South East Asia, a Singaporean national, joined the Company in July 2007. He is a management graduate from University of Leicester and a Licensed Aircraft Engineer certified by Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore. Mr. Oh brings to Jet Airways a wide travel industry experience of more than 25 years.  He has worked with Singapore Airlines and was responsible for Engineering, Route planning, Alliances and Marketing.  He was the Airline Vice President for Marketing Communications & Development and subsequently served as Vice President for Global Sales & Distribution. He also spent several years in the field as Country Manager/State Manager for the Airline in Europe, North America, Sri Lanka and Australia. In his current assignment, Mr. Oh is responsible for all the functions in the region of South East Asia.

Mr. Raja Segran, Sr. Vice President – Europe & United Kingdom, joined Jet Airways in November 2007 as Vice President – Europe. A Singaporean, he holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc. from the University of Malaya, specializing in Biochemistry. He has more than 26 years of experience in Singapore Airlines, serving in various capacities, the last of which was as General Manager - UK and Ireland. He is responsible for all activities, commercial and operational for Europe & UK.

Mr. P. K. Sinha, Regional Vice President – SAARC, an Indian national, joined the Company in January 2004 as Vice President – Passenger Sales & Cargo. He heads the Sales & Marketing activities for SAARC i.e. Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives and Pakistan. In his association with Jet Airways, he has also been in charge of Industry Affairs as Vice President – International Relations & Industry Affairs, where he was responsible for International Relations, work on bilateral matters, liaison with other Indian and International Carriers and represented Jet Airways in all bilateral meetings and briefings. Additionally, he also liaised as required with MoCA, DGCA, AAI, BCAS and other Government / Ministry Agencies. Mr. Sinha also represented Jet Airways in Industry FORA like, CII, FICCI and IATA forums.  He has an Honours Degree from Patna University. He comes to Jet Airways from Air India with a wealth of experience of nearly 34 years. He has worked both in India and abroad in various capacities with Air India. His last position with Air India was as its Resident Director - Delhi.

Mr. Jayaraj Shanmugam, Divisional Vice President – Ground Services, a Singaporean national, joined Jet Airways in December 2007 and is currently responsible for Airport Services function of the network, Customer Relations, Inflight Service Operations and Commercial Training. He holds a Bachelor degree in Political Science (Honours) from National University of Singapore and a Master of Business Administration degree with specialization in Marketing from Nanyang University, Singapore. Mr. Shanmugam has over 13 years of experience in Singapore Airlines, where he has managed the airport operations and services as Airport Manager in San Francisco, New Zealand and Switzerland. He was also responsible for setting up and heading the Singapore Airlines Integrated Operations Control Centre. This centre was responsible for managing the day to day running of operations worldwide. His last appointment in Singapore Airlines was as the Country General Manager for Russia with overall responsibility for Singapore Airline's performance in Sales & Marketing, Finance and Administration services and operations in Russia. Before joining Singapore Airlines, he was an officer in the Singapore Armed Forces for 6 years with specific focus on strategic and tactical operations management.

Mr. Gaurang Shetty, Sr. Vice President – Alliances & Interline Distribution, an Indian national, joined the Company in 1996 as General Manager – Marketing and was promoted as Vice President – Marketing in 2004. Prior to joining the Company, he was with British Airways as its Marketing Manager - South Asia. He has over 16 years experience with British Airways in the areas of customer service, cargo and passenger marketing. At Jet Airways, he is responsible for Marketing department, which includes Brand Management, Brand Communications, Interline Revenue and Distribution.

Mr. Mark Turner, Sr. Vice President – Cabin Crew, a British national, joins us with over 30 years of airline experience having worked for major global brands including Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways and most recently the Emirates Group where he held key management positions in Customer Affairs, Inflight Training and Airline Affairs. At Jet Airways, he is tasked with building a cabin crew community infrastructure to support the global vision of Jet Airways.

Mr. Rajesh Sharma, Vice President – Financial Controls, an Indian national, is a qualified Chartered Accountant and joined the company in August 1995 as Head of Internal Audit. In May 2004, he was designated as Vice President – Controller, directly responsible for Commercial and Revenue Accounting, MIS and Budgeting and Financial Control functions.  In July 2007, he was given the responsibility of handling technical purchases including outsource services for Engineering & Maintenance and Ground Support. In November 2008, Mr. Sharma has again been made incharge of Financial Controls. He has a wide experience in various functional areas in Finance and is more focused on cost controls and cost reduction measures in the Company. Prior to joining the Company, he worked with M/s. Bayer (India) Ltd., a German multinational company for a period of 8 years as head of its internal audit. He has also been associated as a qualified examiner with the Indian Merchant of Chambers for the Ramkrishna Bajaj National Quality Awards.

Mr. K. G. Vishwanath, Vice President – Commercial Strategy and Investor Relations, 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.

Mr. Abdulkhaliq Saeed, Sr. Vice President – Engineering & Maintenance, a Bahraini national, joined Jet Airways in October 2007. An Aeronautical Engineer with 33 years of experience in Technical Services and Engineering functions of Gulf Air where he has held various senior positions in the Maintenance function. He was a member of the Board of Directors for GAMCO (Gulf Aircraft Maintenance Company), Head of the Gulf Air team in establishing maintenance contract and outsourcing maintenance to various maintenance repair organizations and a member of International Flight Safety Committee. Mr. Saeed also has a substantial experience in Contracts Management. At Jet Airways he is responsible for all the units in Engineering & Maintenance.

Dato K. Jeyakanthan, Vice President - Engineering Services, 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. Dato Jeyakanthan is currently responsible for Engineering Services in Engineering & Maintenance including Projects & Contracts, Planning & Logistics, Technical Services, Technical Training and Power Plant management. Additionally, is also responsible for GSD and Cabin Appearance functions.

Capt. Hassan Al-Mousawi, Sr. Vice President-Operations & On Time Performance, a Qatari national, joined Jet Airways in January 2008. He holds a Master of Aeronautical Science Degree plus two BSc degrees in Computer Science with Aviation Applications and Professional Aeronautics all with distinction from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, USA. Capt. Al-Mousawi started his aviation carrier in 1981 when he graduated from Civil Aviation College in Qatar as an Air Traffic Controller; he worked at Doha International Airport till 1984. He was awarded a scholarship to study in USA 1984-1990. On his return to Qatar he worked in the Civil Aviation Department on various projects and his last position was Head of Air Safety and Air Navigation. He joined Gulf Air in 1994 as a professional pilot and later became Manager Flight Safety at Gulf Air where he held the position till August 2007. Capt Al-Mousawi has accumulated more than 7000 flying hours on the Airbus A320 and A340 aircraft.

Capt. Declan Connolly, Vice President - Flight Operations, an Irish national joined Jet Airways in April 2008. He is a graduate from NAIA (North American Institute of Aviation) and has held various accountable positions from "Project Development / Leader" to "Postholder Training" and "Postholder Flight Operations". Capt. Connolly has 11500 hrs of flying experience in commercial air transport as line Captain, LTC (Line Training Captain), TRE (Type Rated Examiner), Base trainer and Certificate  Of Airworthiness acceptance spread across B737, B757, B767, L-1011 and currently on A330.  For past 6 years, he has been Senior Flight Operations Inspector with the IAA (Irish Aviation Authority) and also sat on the JAA (Joint Airworthiness Authority) Steering Group and EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) Expert group. At Jet Airways, he is overall in-charge of Flight Operations.

Ms. Sonu Kripalani, Vice President - Sales (India), 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. Jay Shelat, Vice President – Cargo, an American national with Indian origin, joined the company in March 2007. He hold a degree in Aviation management from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, USA. He has over 23 years of experience with companies like Federal Express, AMR – Corporation – American Airlines Cargo Alliances and World Airways Inc in the USA. At Jet Airways, Mr. Shelat is in-charge of the entire Cargo operations at Jet Airways, especially for the company’s overseas wide-bodied operations.

Mr. Raj Sivakumar, Vice President – Revenue Management, an American national with 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, and related functions for the entire Jet Airways network.

Mr. Prasun Sengupta, Vice President - Corporate Administration, an Indian national, joined the company in May 1998. He started his career with the Tata Administrative Service in 1972 after finishing his MBA from The Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata. He was seconded to the Indian Hotels Co. Ltd. in 1973. His areas of work included corporate strategy, acquisitions, international administration and structured finance. Mr. Sengupta was closely associated with the growth of the Taj Group into one of the largest hotel and hospitality chains in Asia (outside Japan) and he has served on the Board of Directors of Taj Group companies in India and abroad. At Jet Airways, he is in charge of Corporate Administration besides providing assistance and support to the Chairman’s office.

Mr. Ashok Barimar, General Counsel & Vice President - Legal, 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, 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.

Ms. Monica Chopra, Company Secretary, an Indian national, joined the Company in September
2008. She holds a bachelor degree in Commerce as well as in Law. She is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India, New Delhi. Ms. Chopra has a wide experience of over 15 years encompassing secretarial and compliance, share administration and investor relations and M&A activities of public listed companies as well as private companies. At Jet Airways, she is responsible for carrying out all the secretarial functions of the Company. Ms. Chopra is also the Compliance Officer under the SEBI Regulations.