I will strive to transform Jet Airways into a viable business: Nivaan Goyal

At Jet Airways, Goyal is the designated head of business transformation and is tipped to be inducted as a director on the bo

Almost a decade after having been inducted into Jet Airways as a management trainee by his father, Nivaan Goyal seems to be ready for a more substantial role in the airline, which is facing financial headwinds. 

“Jet Airways will come out of this,” Nivaan Goyal said, when asked about the direction the cash-strapped carrier was headed for.

At Jet Airways, Nivaan, son of promoter and founder Naresh Goyal, is designated head of business transformation and is tipped to be inducted as a director into the board. “I would strive to transform Jet Airways into a viable business with products and services that are increasingly geared to millennials while keeping interests of all stakeholders on top priority,” the 26-year-old said.

The junior Goyal said he had brought in management consultancy McKinsey & Co in October last year to submit an 18-month business plan to help turn around the company. He said he had learnt a lot from both his parents who were involved in the business.

However, in the last few years especially, many instructive pointers had also come from professional managers and those who had mentored him along the way, he added. That list includes senior airline officials such as vice-president of product and services Jayaraj Shanmugam, CEO Vinay Dube, operations head Captain Nikhil Vaid, senior vice-president commercial Gaurang Shetty, CFO Amit Agarwal, and chief people officer Rahul Taneja.

Nivaan, the youngest in Naresh Goyal's family, studied at Cathedral & John Connon High School until the 6th grade before he left for England, where he studied first in Abercorn School and then Portland Place School. After that, he attended Regent's University London, where he got his degree in global business management, and later did an eight-month internship with GE Aviation's engines division. In 2016, his father introduced him to the aviation world at large by taking him along to International Air Transport Association's annual general meeting in Ireland, where he was introduced to the who's who of the airline business.

Equally vital learning came to Nivaan when he spent time at airports understanding what customers, especially millennials, want out of travel as well as the human side of the business. "I love the thrill of the business that involves so many different factors -- geopolitical dynamics, different economies, the customer service angle as well as the fact that India is on its way to being one of the fastest-growing and top commercial aviation markets in the world," he said.