Jaideep Mirchandani, Rahul Bhatia, Vinod Kannan and Vinay Dube are blazing a new trail in Indian skies with their business acumen and vision.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects India to become the world’s third-largest air passenger market by 2026. Fuelling this growth is a rapid increase in air cargo and an exponential rise in passenger traffic. Infact, in March this year, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), stated that domestic passengers between January to February 2024 were estimated to be 257.78 lakh, as against 246.11 lakh during the corresponding period of the previous year. This is indicative of an annual growth of 4.74 per cent. As airlines continue to order hundreds of new aircraft to meet this surging travel demand and grapple with challenges related to infrastructure, fuel costs, supply chain issues and crew shortage among others, a few industry leaders are steering India’s aviation trajectory towards a brighter future with their expansive vision.
An overview:
Jaideep Mirchandani, Chairman, Sky One
As a young leader, Jaideep Mirchandani would dismantle and rebuild engines in his tool shed and today, he is the force behind the global aviation conglomerate Sky One. Sky One has a diverse portfolio of products and services that span Cargo Charter, Asset Trading, Training, Relief Operations, MRO (maintenance, repair, and operations), advisory and capacity optimization. Sky One offers charter services to passengers going for Hajj and Umrah and has interests in several aviation firms and manages a fleet strength of over 60 airplanes and helicopters of various modifications.
Mirchandani and Sky One grabbed headlines recently after entering the fray for the now insolvent Go First. If the bid is successful, it will mark one of the largest acquisitions in India’s aviation industry of recent times. Sky One is also developing the next generation of Indian pilots and aviation technicians at its cutting-edge Pier Seven Aviation Academy. Mirchandani’s own aviation journey began in Azerbaijan (Baku) where he studied Mechanical Engineering. From providing cargo support in Russia in the early 1990s, he now oversees a company that spans almost all aspects of aviation. His all-encompassing vision has helped Sky One to bridge service and competency gaps with responsive aviation modules.
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Rahul Bhatia, Promoter and MD of InterGlobe Aviation Limited (IndiGo)
This April, InterGlobe Enterprises promoter Rahul Bhatia and former Tech Mahindra CEO CP Gurnani launched a company called AIonOS which is slated to employ Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help firms in decision-making through a SaaS platform in the travel, transportation, logistics, and hospitality (TTLH) sector. This move is indicative of Bhatia’s constant search for new horizons. After all, as the Group Managing Director of InterGlobe Enterprise and the Promoter and Managing Director of InterGlobe Aviation Limited (IndiGo), he has penned the success story of what is now India’s largest airline.
He co-founded IndiGo with Rakesh Gangwal in 2006 and has also led InterGlobe’s diversification into Logistics, Hospitality, Aviation Training, Airline Management, Travel Commerce and more. This year in April, under his stewardship, IndiGo sprung another surprise by indicating that it would introduce A350 service for long haul flights from 2027. This electrical engineering graduate from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, who began his entrepreneurial journey by establishing InterGlobe in 1989 has indeed come a long way. In 2016, he was also featured in the Forbes ‘Global Game Changers’ list.
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Vinod Kannan, CEO Vistara
In 2022, Vistara announced Vinod Kannan as the chief executive officer (CEO) of the airline. He was elevated to this post after serving Vistara as its Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Commercial Officer and playing a key role in developing and executing the airline’s corporate strategy. In fact, this year, he reportedly addressed the crisis of numerous cancellations and delays in flight operations, by meeting on-duty pilots online along with other members of top management and the HR team. In recent media interactions, Kannan has openly addressed these issues and expressed confidence that just as Vistara has become a successful full-service carrier in India, its merger into Air India will transform the latter into a world-class airline.
Kannan who studied Electronics Engineering at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and is a UCLA-NUS Executive MBA alumnus, worked with Singapore Airlines (SIA) for over 20 years. He is no stranger to dealing with logistical, administrative and management related challenges and has successfully demonstrated his acumen in revenue management, customer service, and in striking strategic partnerships.
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Vinay Dube, CEO Akasa Air
Earlier this year, Akasa CEO Vinay Dubey shared his plans to launch international flights, and also shared the news of a mega order of over 150 planes. This responsive optimism in the face of scheduling challenges and pilot shortages, spoke volumes for the grit of this industry veteran who has always been focused on growth. The former chief executive officer (CEO) of Jet Airways and GoAir (previously known as Go First) began his career with American Airlines, as an operations research analyst and then rose to a managerial role. After a stint at Delta Airlines, he joined Jet Airways in June 2017.
Undeterred by the challenges posed by the pandemic, he visualied Akasa Air and in July 2021, late billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala invested $35 million for a 40% stake in this dream. Dube, who has a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Mathematics from Knox College in Illinois, and a Master’s Degree in Operations Research from the University of North Carolina, is now confident that Akasa could potentially grow into one of the 30 biggest airlines in the world by the turn of the decade.
(India CSR)
