NEW DELHI: After leading one of the country’s newest airlines for nearly four years, Sanjiv Kapoor has resigned as chief commercial officer (COO) at Vistara, a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines. According to the company, Kapoor has resigned from his position due to personal reasons and would be discharged from his official duties on December 31, 2019.
The airline’s chief strategy officer, Vinod Kannan, would take over as the new COO. “As part of the transition process since Kapoor’s resignation, some of the portfolios had been moved under Kannan’s leadership, while some are still in the movement process,” said a company statement. Kannan joined Vistara earlier this year after serving as COO of Scoot, a no-frills carrier operated by Singapore Airlines.
Kapoor, in an emotional e-mail, wrote, “Commercial will now be reporting to Vinod, and you are in good hands — in fact I have been giving a soft handover of a few departments to him already over the last few weeks after I gave notice, so as to ease the transition.” A native of Kolkata and highly inspired by JRD Tata, Kapoor said he always wanted to join the aviation industry.
Kapoor had joined Vistara in March 2016 after serving as the COO of SpiceJet. During his tenure with SpiceJet, the airline’s ownership changed from the Maran family to original promoter Ajay Singh. During his stay in Vistara, it expanded its presence in the domestic market and got permission to fly abroad.