Air India Announces Senior Management Appointments

Air India has announced the appointment of Capt Klaus Goersch as in a newly created role of Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer that will oversee Flight Operations, Engineering, Ground Operations, Integrated Operations Control (IOCC) and Cabin Crew functions.

Capt Goersch is a licensed B777/787 pilot who has previously held similar positions in both British Airways and Air Canada, and will be based out of Air India’s new headquarters in Gurugram. Incumbent Chief of Operations Capt RS Sandhu, who had already extended his service with Air India beyond his superannuation date, will transition to an advisory role with particular focus on the harmonisation of the four Tata airlines’ operating procedures, the Airbus A350 entry-into-service program and assisting the team establishing Air India’s new Training Academy.

Welcoming Capt Goersch onboard, Campbell Wilson, CEO & Managing Director of Air India said, “We are pleased to have Klaus join the Air India family. Having worked at some of the best airlines in the world, he brings a wealth of knowledge and experience that is valuable to the ongoing transformation at Air India. At Air India, we remain committed to building top leadership as we continue to invest in all the resources that are required to take the airline to the upper echelons of global aviation.”

Air India also announced other senior announcements to further strengthen its management team. Capt Manish Uppal, who transitioned from Air Asia India a few months ago, has been appointed as Senior Vice President Flight Operations, while Capt Henry Donohoe’s Corporate Safety, Security and Quality role will be expanded to include Emergency Response, and be retitled Senior Vice President Safety, Security and Quality.

Mr Pankaj Handa joins to lead Ground Operations, Mr Choorah Singh joins as Divisional Vice President Integrated Operations Control and Ms JuLi Ng joins as Divisional Vice President Cabin Crew.  Mr Handa, Mr Singh and Ms Ng will report to Capt Goersch, as will Capt Uppal and Mr Sisira Kanta Dash, Senior Vice President Engineering. 

Concurrently, the Inflight Product & Service Design functions headed by Mr Sandeep Verma will move to Mr Rajesh Dogra's Customer Experience portfolio so that the latter has oversight of all customer interfaces.

Capt Goersch, Mr Dogra and Capt Donohoe will report directly to Mr Wilson, as will existing Management Committee members Mr Nipun Aggarwal, Dr Satya Ramaswamy, Dr Suresh Dutt Tripathi and Mr Vinod Hejmadi, whose roles remain unchanged.

“These changes have been made with a view to managing succession, streamlining the organisation, optimising talent from within the Tata airline group and positioning it strongly for future growth and success,” Mr Wilson added.           

About Air India:

Founded by the legendary JRD Tata, Air India pioneered India’s aviation sector. Since its first flight on October 15, 1932, Air India has built an extensive domestic network with non-stop flights to cities around the world, across the USA, Canada, UK, Europe, Far East, South-East Asia, Australia, and the Gulf. After 69 years as a government-owned enterprise, Air India and Air India Express were welcomed back into the Tata group in January 2022. 

Air India is navigating through a major five-year transformation roadmap under the aegis of Vihaan.AI, with an ambition to become a world class airline with an Indian heart. The first phase of this transformation, the taxi phase was recently concluded, and focused on fixing the basics. These included bringing back to service many long grounded aircraft, addition of talent across flying and ground functions, rapid upgradation of technology and strengthening of customer care initiatives amongst others. 

A member of Star Alliance, the largest global airline consortium of leading international airlines, Air India offers seamless connectivity and facilities to passengers all over the world.