Naresh Goyal, who set-up India's first luxury airline Jet Airways, is set to step down from the board of the debt-laden company, he founded nearly two and a half decades ago.
With an experience of over 40 years in the aviation industry, Goyal has been among the most-awarded and note-worthy entrepreneurs of his time.
Goyal has been serving on the board of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) since 2004. His term will end in 2019 after its 75th annual general meeting.
Goyal is a recipient of several national and international awards, for bringing up Jet Airways and playing a key role in its expansion.
The 70-year-old aviation entrepreneur was born in Sangrur, Punjab on July 29, 1949, and holds a commerce degree from Govt. Bikram College of Commerce, Patiala.
Goyal's father was once a rich jewellery dealer. His family went bankrupt when he was 11. After completing his graduation, from 1967 to 1974 Goyal underwent extensive training in all facets of the travel business through his association with several foreign airlines.
In May 1974, Goyal founded Jetair (Private) Limited with the objective of providing sales and marketing representation to foreign airlines in India. He was involved in the development of traffic patterns, route structures, operational economics and flight scheduling.
After working with travel agencies and airline companies, Goyal learnt the tricks of the trade and gained enough experience to set up India's first premium airline with the help of his wife, Anita Goyal.
He then took advantage of the underdeveloped Indian aviation sector and, as a process of diversifying his business, he launched the airline in 1993.
However, despite his abundant experience, history seems to be repeating for Goyal.
The airline, which has been operating for over 25 years, is looking to restructure its debt, estimated to be more than Rs 8,000 crore, as well as raise fresh funds.
Stakeholders and lenders of the airline have asked for his resignation after Jet Airways went into a debt slump. Goyal seemed reluctant to step down in the past and had tried every trick to stay in the board.
Last November, when Goyal approached Tata Group for a deal, the salt-to-software conglomerate had put this as a pre-condition to acquire the stake.
Things turned worse when Nikos Kardassis, the former CEO of Jet Airways, who made a come back to the carrier in an advisory role and was tasked to turnaround the cash-strapped airline, left the company December last year.
The Greek-American aviation veteran in his third come back to Jet Airways in May 2018 was roped-in to revive the fortunes of the full-service carrier following its dismal financial performance since January last year.
As per ICRA's report, Jet Airways has large repayments due until March to the tune of Rs 1,700 crores and further Rs 2,445 crore by FY20 and Rs 2,168 crore by FY21. Jet Airways has over Rs 8,000 crore in debt and is looking for urgent liquidity infusion to pay its pilots, engineers and make payments to its lessors.
