Rahul Bhatia’s leadership revamp reaches the finance office; Thadimarri is new IndiGo CFO
Mumbai/New Delhi: IndiGo on Monday redesignated its chief financial officer (CFO) and elevated his deputy to CFO, the latest in a series of leadership changes
Mumbai/New Delhi: IndiGo on Monday redesignated its chief financial officer (CFO) and elevated his deputy to CFO, the latest in a series of leadership changes at India’s largest airline since managing director Rahul Bhatia took over as interim chief executive officer (CEO) in March. The airline redesignated CFO Gaurav Negi as adviser to the managing director effective after business hours on Monday. Deputy CFO Kiran Thadimarri will take over as CFO and key managerial personnel from Tuesday, the company said in a stock exchange filing. The transition is the latest in more than half a dozen senior leadership changes at IndiGo since Bhatia took over in March following the abrupt exit of former CEO Pieter Elbers. It also comes ahead of the arrival of new CEO William Walsh, who is expected to take charge no later than 3 August.
Also Read | Jindal Steel acknowledges leadership churn, banks on new hires for stability Earlier this month, IndiGo appointed Kanwal Jeet Singh Bakshi as chief human resources officer, replacing Sukhjit Singh Pasricha, who resigned after serving the airline for more than eight years. Bakshi joined from Bhatia’s privately held InterGlobe Enterprises Pvt. Ltd, reinforcing the co-founder’s growing influence over the airline’s senior management team. Thadimarri, the new CFO, was also earlier with InterGlobe Enterprises. Ambitious expansion The changes come as IndiGo executes an ambitious expansion strategy, targeting nearly 200 million passengers annually, around 3,000 daily departures and a fleet of more than 550 aircraft by 2030. In March, the airline appointed former Air India Express CEO Aloke Singh as chief strategy officer.
Around the same time, it named Walsh as CEO. The leadership changes came in the wake of IndiGo’s severe operational disruption in December, when it cancelled more than 4,000 domestic flights, triggering regulatory scrutiny. The airline also removed Jason Herter, senior vice-president of its operations control centre, following directions from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation after its investigation into the disruption. Widening list Separately, Vinay Malhotra, the airline’s head of global sales, resigned in May, adding to the list of senior executives who have exited during the transition. While the company described Negi’s move as a redesignation rather than a resignation, the latest finance reshuffle underscores the continued reorganisation of IndiGo’s leadership team under Bhatia as the airline prepares for its next phase of expansion under incoming CEO William Walsh.
The BriefWire