Jet Airways sees top-level reshuffle

Change after chief commercial officer resigns; to also appoint a new CFO

Jet Airways, India's second-largest airline by market share, is seeing changes in its C-suite following the resignation of Chief Commercial Officer Raj Sivakumar. Besides commercial operations, the airline is also bringing in two key executives for marketing and finance roles.

Jet Airways has not had a full-time chief financial officer (CFO) since May 2014; Ravichandran Narayan has been the acting CFO. Sources say a former finance head of a renewable energy company could be named the airline's full-time CFO. The appointment for the marketing position will be that of Colin Neubronner, who formerly was vice-president (marketing) at Qatar Airways.

These changes come at a time when the airline is in the process of implementing its three-year turnaround plan. In April 2013, Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways had taken a 24 per cent stake in the airline for Rs 2,057 crore; the transaction was completed in November of that year. While Jet was able to halve its standalone loss to Rs 1,813 crore by the end of March 2015, the recovery was slow and profitability elusive.

Chief commercial officer (CCO) Raj Sivakumar quit after almost eight years at the airline. He had joined Jet after a 15-year stint at United Airlines and, in his current role, was responsible for implementing the company's sales strategy. Until his elevation as CCO, Sivakumar had held the position of senior vice-president in charge of alliances and planning.

A spokesperson for Jet Airways confirmed Sivakumar's exit, saying: "Raj Sivakumar has decided to pursue new career opportunities and will be leaving the company in early September."

On a query on new appointments, the spokesperson said: "The company will make announcements on new recruitments at an appropriate time, after due approvals."

Jet had seen several key exits after the Etihad deal last year, and top executives from the latter were appointed at Jet Airways. A few of those who quit include Chief Executive Officer Nikos Kardassis, Vice-President (investor relations) K G Vishwanath, and Chief Commercial Officer Sudheer Raghavan.

Gary Toomey, former chief financial officer of Qantas Airways, who had replaced Kardassis, left the airline within six months of taking charge. Ravishankar Gopalakrishnan, the airline's chief financial officer who also officiated as the interim CEO, also quit in May. The airline appointed Cramer Ball, an Etihad executive and formerly the chief executive from Air Seychelles, as its CEO last May. Ball officially took charge in September after receiving government security clearance.

Besides promoting Sivakumar as CCO last June, the airline had appointed Rajeev Nambiar, earlier Etihad's head of sales, as its vice-president (sales); and Martin Drew, a former Etihad executive, as head of its cargo business. In May, Drew left Jet Airways and is now in charge of the North American market for Etihad.