DELHI
His well-groomed looks and fitness regime may have attracted more attention, than his credentials for running an airline, but Mittu Chandilya, the 33-year-old CEO of Air Asia India is not letting that distract him from the task at hand. He has promised himself – and Air Asia boss Tony Fernandes – that over the next four-five years India operations would be the largest of AirAsia subsidiaries. Chandilya shares his reasons with Sudipto Dey why his non-airline background could turn out to be an advantage. Excerpts from an interaction:
After the three-city tour – Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi – earlier this month – many in the industry feel “Tony will call the shots, Mittu will execute”. How fair is this assessment?
Not fair at all. Tony is there to give us guidance. He is an industry veteran, and if he shares some of his own experiences, we will surely try to make the most out of it. But he has made it clear – “It is your show”. All decisions have to be taken here (locally).
On our Board we have other shareholders, we will learn from their experiences too. If you can’t learn, you don’t last in this job. In fact, several top executives in other Air Asia subsidiaries come from non-airline back ground. Tony’s idea has always been to bring in disruptive innovations.
Full interview here Business Standard
