In an important management change at Air India, the airline announced that an old-hand from Singapore Airlines, Basil Kwauk, will replace Klaus Goersch as the Chief Operations Officer.

In an internal announcement, Air India’s MD & CEO Campbell Wilson informed that Mr. Goersch would be leaving Air India at the end of December “to take up a senior role closer to his family in the United States”. He was appointed for the role in October 23.

Mr. Kwauk has 25 years of experience at Singapore Airlines. He was sent to Vistara on secondment where he was senior vice-president, flight operations, from 2017 and 2021 before he returned to Singapore from New Delhi.

Mr. Kwauk has flown a multitude of aircraft ranging from A319s to A340s and Boeing 787s, 777s and 747s. He holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from National University Singapore.

The development follows the merger of Vistara, which Singapore Airlines co-owned with Tata Sons, with Air India. Singapore Airlines now has 25.1% control in the Air India Group.

Mr. Kwauk is credited for steering Vistara operations through the pandemic. During his tenure, the airline also acquired 9 Boeing 737 from erstwhile Jet Airways as well as recruited requisite crew for flight operations when Vistara was an all Airbus fleet with only 22 planes. The airline also inducted Boeing 787 Dreamliners into the fleet from 2020 onwards and started its foray into international destinations during his time.

Though Mr. Goersch has been described as an “absentee COO” who often worked remotely from the U.S., many of those who have worked with Mr. Kwauk during his stint at Vistara called him a “great choice” for the role. Erstwhile Vistara crew described him as a “people’s person” who often interacted with ground staff to resolve their concerns and devised SOPs friendly for crew and passengers.

Industry watchers said that his appointment was a signal of Air India ensuring that some of the best practices that Vistara came to be known for were also brought into the merged entity, apart from Singapore Airlines getting a share of the pie in the management of the airline.