Capt. Klaush Goersch has been appointed to the newly-created role of executive vice president (EVP) and chief operations officer(COO), Air India. In this assignment, Goersch will supervise and head flight operations, engineering, ground operations, integrated operations control (IOCC) and cabin crew functions. He will report directly to the CEO.
An alumnus of Harvard Business School and a licensed B777/787 pilot, Goersch served as EVP – operations and customer service at AirTran Airways for over 16 years, from 1996 to 2012.
In 2015, he moved to SITA, as a member of the board of directors, based out of Geneva, Switzerland.
He joined Air Canada as EVP and COO in 2012. This role saw him working out of Toronto, Canada for over four years.
The period 2019 to 2020 saw him as a member of the board of directors, IAG Cargo, London.
He served British Airways for almost three years, as chief operating officer, based out of London.
His next stop was Lionheart Enterprises, where he spent over three years as chief executive officer (CEO). Since July 2022 he was with NEOM as CEO, NEOM Airlines.
This latest assignment at Air India will see Goersch working out of Gurugram.
RS Sandhu, incumbent COO will now take on an advisory role with focus on the harmonisation of the four Tata airlines’ operating procedures and the Airbus A350 entry-into-service programme. He will also help the team establish Air India’s new Training Academy.
Campbell Wilson, CEO & managing director, Air India is confident that Goersch “will remain committed to building top leadership as we continue to invest in all the resources that are required to take the airline to the upper echelons of global aviation.”
Wilson also acknowledges the “wealth of knowledge and experience“ that Goersch brings with him, given that he has “worked at some of the best airlines in the world.“
Amongst other senior appointments, Capt. Manish Uppal is now senior vice president, flight operations, while Capt. Henry Donohoe, currently looking after corporate safety, security and quality, will have the added responsibility of emergency response. His role will now be called, senior vice president safety, security and quality.
Pankaj Handa will lead ground operations, Choorah Singh will be divisional VP – integrated operations control and JuLi Ng joins will be divisional VP – cabin crew.
Handa, Singh and Ng will report to Goersch, along with Uppal and Sisira Kanta Dash, senior vice president engineering.
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