In a major development, Air India on Friday (October 27) appointed Captain Klaus Goersch as Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer. The airline, while making the announcement, informed that Goersch will oversee flight operations, engineering, ground operations, integrated operations control (IOCC) and cabin crew functions in the newly-created position. It also announced various other senior level appointments.
Capt Goersch will be based out of Air India’s new Gurugram headquarters and will be replacing the incumbent chief of operations, Capt RS Sandhu, who is going to transition to an advisory role with a focus on the synergy between the four Tata airlines’ operating procedures.
It may be noted that Captain Goersch is a licensed pilot for B777 and B787 aircraft, having previously served in comparable roles at both British Airways and Air Canada.
In an official statement, Air India disclosed that Goersch’s responsibilities encompass streamlining operating procedures across the four Tata airlines, overseeing the Airbus A350 entry-into-service program, and providing support to the team in establishing the new training academy for the carrier.
Other high-level appointments
As per the announcement, the airline is also appointing Manish Uppal as Senior Vice President for flight operations. Uppal transitioned from AirAsia India a few months ago. Additionally, Henry Donohoe’s corporate role in safety, security, and quality will be expanded to encompass emergency response, and his title will be adjusted to Senior Vice President for Safety, Security, and Quality.
The statement issued by the airline also highlighted that the inflight product and service design functions being headed by Sandeep Verma will move to Rajesh Dogra’s Customer Experience portfolio so that the latter has oversight of all customer interfaces.
Pankaj Handa will assume the role of leading ground operations, Choorah Singh is appointed as Divisional Vice President of the Integrated Operations Control Centre, and JuLi Ng will serve as the Divisional Vice President for the cabin crew. Notably, Goersch, Dogra, and Donohoe will directly report to Air India’s Managing Director and CEO, Campbell Wilson. The current members of the management committee, Nipun Aggarwal, Satya Ramaswamy, Suresh Dutt Tripathi, and Vinod Hejmadi, whose positions remain unchanged, will also report to Wilson, as stated.
Handa, Singh and Ng will report to Goersch, as will Uppal and Sisira Kanta Dash, senior vice president engineering.
A change for better tomorrow
“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,” Wilson said.
“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,” he added.
(With inputs from PTI)