In an important management change at Air India, the airline announced that an old-hand from Singapore Airlines, Basil Kwauk, will replace Klaus Goersch as the Chief Operations Officer.

In an internal announcement, Air India’s MD & CEO Campbell Wilson informed that Mr. Goersch would be leaving Air India at the end of December “to take up a senior role closer to his family in the United States”. He was appointed for the role in October 23.

Mr. Kwauk has 25 years of experience at Singapore Airlines. He was sent to Vistara on secondment where he was senior vice-president (flight operations) from 2017 and 2021 before he returned to Singapore from New Delhi.

Mr. Kwauk has flown a multitude of aircraft ranging from A319s to A340s and Boeing 787s, 777s and 747s. He holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from National University Singapore.

The development follows the merger of Vistara, which Singapore Airlines co-owned with Tata Sons, with Air India. Singapore Airlines now has 25.1% control in the Air India Group.

Mr. Kwauk is credited for steering Vistara operations through the pandemic. During his tenure, the airline also acquired 9 Boeing 787-9s from erstwhile Jet Airways as well as recruited requisite crew for flight operations when Vistara was an all Airbus fleet with only 22 planes. The airline also inducted Boeing 787 Dreamliners into the fleet from 2020 onwards and started its foray into international destinations during his time.

Though Mr. Goersch has been described as an “absentee COO” who often worked remotely from the U.S., many of those who have worked with Mr. Kwauk during his stint at Vistara called him a “great choice” for the role. Erstwhile Vistara crew described him as a “people’s person” who often interacted with ground staff to resolve their concerns and devising SOPs friendly for crew and passengers.

Industry watchers said that his appointment was a signal of Air India ensuring that some of the best practices that Vistara came to be known for was also brought into the merged entity, apart from Singapore Airlines getting a share of the pie in the management of the airline.

Mumbai:

Air India on Friday announced the appointment of Klaus Goersch as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer, as well as various other senior level appointments.

In the newly-created position at the airline, Mr Goersch will oversee flight operations, engineering, ground operations, Integrated Operations Control and cabin crew functions.

Air India said incumbent chief of operations RS Sandhu will transition to an advisory role.

In a release, Air India said Mr Goersch’s role includes focus on the harmonisation of the four Tata airlines’ operating procedures, the Airbus A350 entry-into-service programme and assisting the team establishing the carrier’s new training academy.

A licensed B777/787 pilot, he had served in similar positions in both British Airways and Air Canada.

Air India has also announced the appointment of Manish Uppal, who transitioned from AirAsia India a few months ago, as Senior Vice President for flight operations.

Besides, Henry Donohoe’s corporate safety, security and quality role will be expanded to include emergency response. He title will be changed to Senior Vice President for safety, security and quality.

According to the release, 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 lead ground operations, Choorah Singh will be Divisional Vice President Integrated Operations Control Centre and JuLi Ng will be Divisional Vice President for cabin crew. Goersch, Dogra and Donohoe will report directly to Air India Managing Director and CEO Campbell Wilson. The existing management committee members Nipun Aggarwal, Satya Ramaswamy, Suresh Dutt Tripathi and Vinod Hejmadi, whose roles remain unchanged, will report to Wilson, it said.

Mr Handa, Mr Singh and Mr Ng will report to Mr Goersch, as will Uppal and Sisira Kanta Dash, senior vice president engineering.

“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.

About Mr Goersch, Air India Chief said he brings a wealth of knowledge and experience that is valuable to the ongoing transformation at the airline.

“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,” Wilson said.

Tata Group, which took control of loss-making Air India in January last year, is in the process of consolidating its airline business.

As part of the consolidation, AirAsia India (now AIX Connect) is in the process of getting merged with Air India Express, while Vistara will be merged with Air India.

Vistara is a joint venture between Tatas and Singapore Airlines.