Jet Airways saw some top-level changes in management on Sunday. While K. G. Vishwanath, Vice-President, Commercial Strategy and Investor Relations, has resigned, Anita Goyal, Executive Vice-President, Network Planning and Revenue Management, has been appointed Advisor to the Chief Executive Officer.
Vishwanath joined the company in November 1998 as a management trainee and became Vice-President in about 10 years. He looked after the management accounting, budgeting, financial forecasting, and strategy development aspects of the business. Additionally, he was also responsible for investor relations function in the airline. He was involved in many strategic projects, including fleet and route selection, aircraft financing, raising capital and rolling out the airline’s international operations.
These developments come as Jet is awaiting regulatory clearances for a 24 per cent stake sale to the Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways. Industry analysts say that with Etihad pumping in over Rs 2,000 crore into Jet Airways, it would want its people in key positions to manage the investment.
The buyout has been cleared by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), the Government body which approves FDI investments into the country. But given the large size of FDI inflow, the buyout needs the clearance of Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs before it finally goes through.