Amar Abrol, MD and CEO of AirAsia, India, is stepping down soon, sources told FE. The airline might rope in a seasoned aviation professional with international exposure in his place. The budget airline was launched jointly by the Tata Group and Malaysian entrepreneur Tony Fernandes in 2013.
Abrol’s stepping down might be a consequence of changes at the headquarters, where Tony has distanced himself from operations by roping in two CEOs, one each for airline operations and non-airline operations. Following this, there has been a churn in the top leadership of the group airlines in Malaysia and Japan, sources say. India, it seems, is next in line. AirAsia India could not be immediately reached for a comment.
Only a few days ago, the high profile President of IndiGo, Aditya Ghosh, said he was stepping down after a long and successful stint at the helm of India’s largest domestic carrier. The exits may be a manifestation of airlines getting ready for the next phase of growth, after consolidating operations and achieving financial stability. Interestingly, both Ghosh and Abrol are finance professionals and the next growth phase may require a different set of leadership skills, say industry sources.
The likely change in leadership at AirAsia India comes when it is in a fairly stable stage of operations, unlike in 2016 when Abrol took over from Mittu Chandilya, the first MD and CEO, who had made it apparent that he was not happy with “interference” by the HQ in Malaysia in running the airline. The airline was then struggling with six aircraft and a barely two percent market share, after all the hype built up around its tag line ‘everyone can fly’.
Sources within the airline indicate that AirAsia India today is a Rs 3,000 crore enterprise, against a Rs 600 crore fledgling carrier in 2016, when Abrol took charge. It has also doubled its market share and has turned profitable–it posted a net profit of Rs 13.24 crore in the quarter-ended December 2017, its first since inception. It also doubled its revenues to Rs 518 crore in the third quarter of FY17-18 from Rs 270.36 crore in the corresponding quarter of FY16-17, and increased its manpower from 600 to 1,800 employees.
02/05/18 Financial Express
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Abrol’s stepping down might be a consequence of changes at the headquarters, where Tony has distanced himself from operations by roping in two CEOs, one each for airline operations and non-airline operations. Following this, there has been a churn in the top leadership of the group airlines in Malaysia and Japan, sources say. India, it seems, is next in line. AirAsia India could not be immediately reached for a comment.
Only a few days ago, the high profile President of IndiGo, Aditya Ghosh, said he was stepping down after a long and successful stint at the helm of India’s largest domestic carrier. The exits may be a manifestation of airlines getting ready for the next phase of growth, after consolidating operations and achieving financial stability. Interestingly, both Ghosh and Abrol are finance professionals and the next growth phase may require a different set of leadership skills, say industry sources.
The likely change in leadership at AirAsia India comes when it is in a fairly stable stage of operations, unlike in 2016 when Abrol took over from Mittu Chandilya, the first MD and CEO, who had made it apparent that he was not happy with “interference” by the HQ in Malaysia in running the airline. The airline was then struggling with six aircraft and a barely two percent market share, after all the hype built up around its tag line ‘everyone can fly’.
Sources within the airline indicate that AirAsia India today is a Rs 3,000 crore enterprise, against a Rs 600 crore fledgling carrier in 2016, when Abrol took charge. It has also doubled its market share and has turned profitable–it posted a net profit of Rs 13.24 crore in the quarter-ended December 2017, its first since inception. It also doubled its revenues to Rs 518 crore in the third quarter of FY17-18 from Rs 270.36 crore in the corresponding quarter of FY16-17, and increased its manpower from 600 to 1,800 employees.
02/05/18 Financial Express
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