On March 5, Tony Fernandes, the feisty promoter of Air-Asia, had tweeted: “Selected the CEO for AirAsia India. A very smart boy from the south, Madras (sic). An amazing CV … will impress all.”
That Fernandes would have recruited a recruiter to run an airline few would have guessed, if at all.
On Wednesday morning, he revealed the “boy”: Mittu Chandilya, a 32-year-old, Chennai-born, Singapore-based executive, who, in his last job, was the head of services practices for Asia-Pacific at Egon Zehnder, one of the top global executive search firms.
The closest Chandilya came to running an airline was advising clients who were in aviation, travel and hospitality sectors – on their recruitments, most probably. He will take charge on June 1.
AirAsia said his key expertise includes general management experience in leading large and cross-functional organisations through start-up, turnarounds, emerging and mature markets growth, as well as leading, executing and integrating acquisitions.
Chandilya’s new role with AirAsia will be his home coming since he will be based out of the company’s Chennai headquarters.
His job would involve establishing operations for Air-Asia in India and replicating the airline’s low-cost model in the country.
“Mittu is coming home to change Indian travel and make it affordable for all Indians to fly,” Fernandes, the Group CEO, tweeted.
“He is very passionate about the low-cost carrier business and possesses the crucial understanding on how our business model works. India is an important market for us, and a CEO of Mittu’s stature and business acumen would definitely help us to attain significant market share and achieve rapid growth in India,” Fernandes said in a separate statement.
“I am a native of Chennai, and I am excited about returning to India to revolutionise the air travel industry here. I am looking forward to being part of the dynamic AirAsia family, and most importantly, to bring a whole new meaning to the word ‘flying’ to consumers in India,” Chandilya said in a statement.
Chandilya has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Economics from Lehigh University, Pennsylvania, US. He is also an MBA from Insead, France (Singapore annexe), and from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}