Akasa Air Chief Commercial Officer Praveen Iyer resigns, to exit in April
Akasa Air Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer Praveen Iyer will step down at end-April; CIO Anand Srinivasan to take over as CCO amid leadership reshuffle
 "Akasa Air Chief Commercial Officer Praveen Iyer resigns, to exit in April")
Akasa Air on Wednesday said its co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer Praveen Iyer has resigned and will leave the airline at the end of April. He is the second co-founder to exit the carrier.
In October 2025, Neelu Khatri, co-founder and senior vice president (International Operations), had stepped down from her role. Khatri was among the founding members of Akasa Air and played a key role in building and expanding its international operations, including the airline’s early overseas network.
The co-founder resignations have come after a phase of senior management churn at the airline in 2025. In June 2025, Ajit Bhagchandani, vice president (In-Flight Services), resigned, citing personal reasons. Around May 2025, several other senior executives stepped down, including Rishabh Dev, head of Long-Term Operations, Strategy, Excellence and Planning, and Amol Mane, vice president (Aircraft Acquisition and Leasing). Vineet Mishra, deputy general manager (Catering), also left to join another carrier around May last year.
On Wednesday, Iyer said: “I am confident the airline is well-positioned for its next phase of growth and wish the leadership and employees continued success." Akasa said Iyer will partner closely with the leadership team to ensure a smooth and structured transition through April 30.
Akasa also announced that co-founder and Chief Information Officer Anand Srinivasan will take over as Chief Commercial Officer. Srinivasan said, “Akasa has been built with a clear purpose, strong fundamentals, and an exceptional team. I look forward to building on the solid commercial foundation already in place.”
Akasa Air Founder and Chief Executive Officer Vinay Dube said Iyer had been instrumental in shaping Akasa’s commercial vision and building its commercial organisation. “He has built a strong and resilient commercial organisation, nurtured future leaders, and established partnerships and frameworks that continue to support our network expansion and revenue strategy,” Dube said.
On Srinivasan’s elevation, Dube said the airline was fortunate to have deep leadership talent within the organisation. He described Srinivasan as one of the early architects of Akasa, with expertise in commercial and revenue algorithms, including building the airline’s revenue management platform.
Akasa said it has initiated a search for a new Chief Information Officer. As Srinivasan moves into his new role, the IT function will report to Chief Financial Officer Ankur Goel, the airline said.
Akasa Air currently has a fleet of 33 aircraft. The airline added nine aircraft in the last one year. It still has 193 aircraft pending delivery out of its total order of 226 with Boeing. The airline is currently operating 1,107 flights per week, which is about 10 per cent more year-on-year, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.