Air India appoints licenced pilot Capt Klaus Goersch as EVP, COO

Air India has announced the appointment of Captain Klaus Goersch as Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer. He will oversee flight operations, engineering, ground operations, integrated operations control (IOCC) and cabin crew functions, the airline stated. 

Capt Goersch is a licenced B777/787 pilot who had held similar positions in both British Airways and Air Canada. He will be based out of Air India’s new Gurugram headquarters. He will be replacing Capt RS Sandhu who will transition to an advisory role with a focus on the synergy between the four Tata airlines’ operating procedures. Capt Sandhu, who had already extended his service with Air India beyond the superannuation date, will also be establishing Air India’s new training academy. 

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Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson, welcoming Capt Goersch said, “Having worked at some of the best airlines in the world, he brings a wealth of knowledge and experience that is valuable to the ongoing transformation at Air India.”

The airline also announced the other senior appointments to further strengthen its management team. Capt Manish Uppal, who transitioned from Air Asia India a few months ago, has been appointed as Senior Vice President Flight Operations, while Capt Henry Donohoe will be retitled Senior Vice President Safety, Security and Quality after the addition of emergency response to his Corporate Safety, Security and Quality role.

Pankaj Handa will lead Ground Operations, Choorah Singh joined as Divisional Vice President Integrated Operations Control and JuLi Ng joined as Divisional Vice President Cabin Crew. They will all report to Capt Goersch. 

The Inflight Product & Service Design functions headed by Sandeep Verma will now be part of Rajesh Dogra's Customer Experience portfolio. 

Capt Goersch, Dogra and Capt Donohoe will report directly to Campbel Wilson, as will existing Management Committee members Nipun Aggarwal, Dr Satya Ramaswamy, Dr Suresh Dutt Tripathi and Vinod Hejmadi, whose roles remain unchanged.

Wilson said that these changes have been made with a view to manage succession, streamlining organisation, optimising talent from within the Tata airline group.

Founded by JRD Tata, Air India was welcomed back into the Tata group in January 2022, after spending 69 years as a government-owned enterprise. It is currently in a five-year transformation process, under the aegis of Vihaan.AI. 

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