Former Jet Airways Executive Sanjiv Kapoor Joins Saudia Group.

A travel industry veteran, Sanjiv assumed the role of CEO-designate, Jet Airways, on April 4 2022, after a stint at the Oberoi Group as President.

Prior to the Oberoi Group, Kapoor was at Vistara, a Tata - Singapore Airlines JV, as its Chief Strategy and Commercial Officer in March 2016, and played a pivotal role in its growth from 9 aircraft and 40 flights a day back then, to 38 aircraft and over 200 flights a day at the time he left on December 31, 2019. All of Vistara’s revenue-generating and customer-facing functions, as well as strategy, network planning, marketing, loyalty, inflight services, ground services, and product development, were reported to Kapoor.

Prior to Vistara, Sanjiv led SpiceJet through its unprecedented turnaround as its COO and de facto CEO from November 2013 until October 2015, shepherding the airline through a period of record high oil prices and a cash crunch, to cultural and operational transformation, ownership change, and profitability within 15 months.

Sanjiv has over 20 years of experience in the airline industry, having worked with airlines in Asia, Europe, and the US as a part of management, as a management consultant, and as an investment advisor in the aviation space, and is recognized in India and the region as a thought leader in the industry as well as input provider towards government policies.

Sanjiv started his airline career with Northwest Airlines in the US in 1997, where he worked in finance, planning, and procurement. In 2004 Sanjiv joined Bain and Company (in Singapore, and subsequently in Dallas and London) as a leader in their airline practice, working with global airline clients on projects ranging from strategy and performance improvement/turnaround, to network, alliances, and customer experience.

Sanjiv’s previous employers include Temasek Holdings, Singapore (the owners of Singapore Airlines) and Oracle Corporation.

I am thrilled to share that I have joined the Saudia Group as Advisor to His Excellency Ibrahim Al-Omar, Director General of the Group, Kapoor said in a LinkedIn post.

One of the three pillars of Saudia Arabia’s Vision 2030 is the transformation of its advantaged strategic location into a global hub connecting three continents, Asia, Europe and Africa, while simultaneously attracting 100M annual visitors to the Kingdom. Aviation will play a key role in this, and the role and transformation of the Saudi flag carrier Saudia and the creation of Riyadh Air are key parts of the strategy, he added.