Jet Airways HR head joins sale force

Rahul Taneja to support corporate business; move seen as precursor to larger organisational revamp

Jet Airways chief people officer Rahul Taneja now has an another role - grow sales for the airline.

The move comes in the backdrop of intense competition and loss of market share. A Jet Airways spokesperson said Taneja is supporting the sales department to secure corporate business. Sources however say that Taneja will have a larger role and also oversee a part of the sales function.

"Jayaraj Shanmugam as chief commercial officer is responsible for sales and Rahul Taneja continues to be the chief people officer of the company. As part of the leadership team's continuous focus on improving the overall performance of the company, Jet Airways will now look to leverage Mr Taneja's experience and strong industry network to support the sales organisation," the airline said in an emailed response.

Industry watchers say it is an unusual step for a human resource department head to be involved in driving sales and believe this could be a precursor to wider restructuring of the organisation.

With no capacity addition in the domestic market Jet Airway's market share has slipped from 21.4 per cent in January 2016 to 17.6 per cent last month. It remains number one in the carriage of international traffic to/from India but is seeing increasing competition in that segment.

Taneja joined the airline last February and previously headed the corporate human resources at Essar group. Taneja's profile on company website says that he is responsible for shaping the operations and performance of the group. He is also the member of executive management committee which is tasked by the airline board to drive company's growth and strategy.

Earlier this year Jet Airways appointed M Shivakumar, its former finance head, as its finance controller. It also appointed Laurent Recoura, former sales head of Malaysia Airlines, as sales head for Gulf region.