Eash Sundaram of JetBlue top choice for AirAsia India CEO

Eash Sundaram, chief technology officer of American airline JetBlue , has emerged a s a top contender for the corner room at at AirAsia India. Amar Abrol resigned on Wednesday as chief executive officer (CE0) of AirAsia India, a joint venture between the Tata's and Malaysia's AirAsia.  Sundaram's association with the Tata group is not new. He has closely worked with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on JetBlue's digital initiatives earlier. A source said the Tata group was keen on hiring Sundaram for his international aviation experience at a time when AirAsia India was planning to fly abroad within a few months. "Sundaram's hardcore aviation background is unlike that of the previous two CEOs (Abrol and Mittu Chandilya), the source added.

The appointment of the new CEO has to be vetted by the boards of AirAsia India as well as Tata Sons. Tatas hold a majority stake in the airline. 

While the official reason given for Abrol’s resignation was his wish to spend more time with family in Malaysia, sources suggest that the Tata group had reservations over his way of functioning.

“Tatas were not happy because the airline was losing money despite being a low-cost carrier,” said a person aware of the development. According to the Article of Association, Tata Sons has the right to appoint CEO of the company. So far, both CEOs of the airline were appointed by Tony Fernandes, group head of AirAsia. If Sundaram is appointed, it would indicate Tatas’ growing involvement with the operation of AirAsia India.

Tata Sons and AirAsia India refused to comment on specific queries regarding reasons for Abrol’s resignation or any detail about his successor. While the airline managed to increase its fleet size and launch new routes, it could not break even. During inception of the airline, Fernandes had said the airline would break even in 12 months. According to numbers of 2016-17, the airline clocked a loss Rs 1.4 billion. It earned Rs 2.90 from flying one seat for one kilometer, against IndiGo’s Rs 3.40.

Problems aggravated middle of last year after five senior executives raised objections regarding Abrol’s way of functioning. I R Srinivas (head of human resources) Navdeep Lamba (head of security), Vidhu Nair (head of ancillary and cargo), Nantha Kumar (head of engineering), and G Sampath (director of engineering) ultimately resigned but not before ensuring an enquiry into the matter. Abrol was backed by the AirAsia promoter Fernandes. Abrol, in his previous role, was CEO of Tune Money — a Fernandes-owned financial services company.

Due to the growing tension, Tatas refused to invest money in the form of equity if things did not change. According to regulatory filings, the promoters invested Rs 1 billion only in March, 18 months after the last round of funding. In this period, Tata Sons invested more than Rs 6 billion in its other airline venture Vistara. In the past too, there have been differences among the AirAsia India board members over the choice of senior level executives, a former official said.

Exchange of emails shows that in 2015, Bharat Vasani, then chief legal counsel of Tata Sons and a former director at the AirAsia India board, raised objections to the selection of at least two senior executives. The objection was on the ground that executives were being hired without sufficient corporate experience. “Tatas will now put a man with sufficient global experience in aviation to handle things at AirAsia. Hope things turn around,” another source said.