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Rumours are abuzz regarding a leadership change at the Wadia promoted Go Airlines. Bangalore Aviation has reviewed an internal memo circulated to employees which speaks about a corporate realignment.
While the operational heads continue to report to the CEO, Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, revenue and finance responsibilities have been shifted to the Chairman/Managing Director and promoter Mr. Jehangir Wadia for “final approval”. Prock-Sachauer seems to have been re-designated as the Accountable Manger.
The memo goes on to state the Chief Financial Officer, Vice President of HR, and General Manager-Corporate Affairs will report directly to the Chairman / MD. Anand Sahai, the Chief Commercial Officer, will also report directly to the Chairman / Managing Director.
Mr. Prock-Schauer has been at the helm of affairs since 2015. In 2016 he was promoted to Joint Managing Director. Widely viewed as being an expansion and scaling up expert, he previously led Jet Airways during their expansion phase but then left the airline after an ill informed choice regarding layoffs (which was then reversed). After stints at British Midland and Air Berlin, he returned to India to lead Go Air. In this period, the airline doubled their A320neo order to 144, became eligible for international operations, and there were talks of a possible IPO.
While Go Air has inducted five A320neos it has faced challenges with its Pratt & Whitney geared turbo fan PW1100 engines similar to world A320neo leader, Indigo which also uses the same engines. The international expansion plans and IPO plans also seem to be put on hold for now.
These developments come when Go Air’s competitors are aggressively expanding and clawing-out marketshare. Go Air has maintained a consistent marketshare around nine per cent, and while financial data is not publicly available, the airline leadership indicates it has been consistently profitable.
Stay tuned to Bangalore Aviation for more details.
