Goyal’s on board to brave the odds

The journey from a cinema hall in Delhi to Regent Street in Central London, would probably qualify as an ultra-long haul flight. For travel agent-turned-airline skylord Naresh Goyal, the passage has been more eventful because of the turbulence on the way.

Sharad Yadav’s outburst this Friday calling for an arrest of the Jet Airways chairman is only the latest in a series of air pockets he has faced. Despite being a first generation entrepreneur, Mr Goyal’s 13-year-old journey at the helm of Jet Airways has been a constant attempt to keep a step ahead of everyone else. After the successful IPO of his airline, he is now among the richest Indians with a net worth of over $1.5 bn.

The first part of the journey was the fight with the firmly entrenched monopoly, Indian Airlines, which had the solid backing of the government through the ministry of civil aviation. In a regulated industry, every step from getting permissions for routes, aircraft and raising money needed multiple approvals.

It all began when he stepped into the travel business at an early age, when he joined a Delhi-based agency floated by his uncle. A commerce graduate, he is known for his hands-on management style, even when he steers the airline from his home in London, as he did for most of the Jet-Sahara takeover as well as the break-up.

Most of the knowledge has been from his three decades in the travel industry, with contacts in airlines and travel companies all over the world. His travel agency Jetair, began as a GSA (general service agent) for the obscure Lebanese International Airlines. It later expanded business, and provided sales and marketing representation to several foreign airlines in India.

In the initial years, Goyal was also involved in developing studies of traffic patterns, route structures, operational economics and flight scheduling for these carriers. Travel industry veterans say most of the learning has been through networking at international aviation events like the IATA (International Air Transport Association) global meet and the major airshows for decades.

In 1991, with the opening up of the Indian economy and the Open Skies Policy by the government, he set up Jet Airways for the operation of scheduled air services in India. The airline took wings in 1993 and has never looked back. It took on the public sector behemoth Indian Airlines, as well as rival private carriers like East West and Damania Airlines. Slowly Jet’s marketshare edged up while the others fell by the wayside.

Jet Airways today controls about 34% of the domestic Indian market and has international flights to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and London. Goyal’s management style has evolved over the years, say insiders. From being an owner-managed airline in the initial years, Jet has changed into a professional outfit with a board that has drawn talents from the airline industry around the world. His board boasts of several veteran names from the aviation industry. However, as the majority stakeholder he has always called the shots.

This is particularly true of the relationship with Air Sahara that has just gone sour. Sources close to developments say Goyal steamrolled all his advisors to go for the acquisition, aiming at a larger scale and size of operations. But as markets turned choppy and the impact began to tell on Jet’s share price, he backed off. The consequences of the re-think will be felt by Jet in the legal battle over the next few months. Whether Naresh Goyal is scarred by it remains to be seen.