IndiGo appoints United Airlines veteran as its CFO

Image: Vivek Prakash / Reuters

India's largest airline IndiGo promoted by billionaire Rahul Bhatia, who is ranked 38 on the Forbes India Rich List 2015 , on Wednesday, announced a C-Suite management change. The low-cost airline, which has a market share of 38.4 percent, has appointed former senior Vice President of United Airlines, Rohit Philip, as its new chief financial officer effective July 18, 2016. Philip, who spent 17 years with United Airlines, replaces the incumbent CFO Pankaj Madan, who is leaving to pursue other interests.

Philip holds a MBA degree from Cornell University and is a mathematics graduate from St Xavier’s College, in Mumbai. He joins IndiGo from Xerox Corporation, where he served as corporate Vice President and treasure. Prior to that he was President and Group CFO of Anand Automotive Limited, a leading auto components supplier in India.

At IndiGo, Phillip will report to Aditya Ghosh, President and whole time director of the airline. "We are fortunate and excited at Rohit joining the IndiGo team. His enormous and varied experience and understanding of the airline industry will greatly strengthen our team as we continue to build a world class, national air transportation network," said Ghosh.

“We thank Pankaj for his many contributions over the last eighteen months and wish him all the best in his future endeavours," he added.

IndiGo recorded a 52.6 percent growth in net profit in the just concluded fiscal 2016 over the previous year; marking its eighth consecutive year of profitability. This is a feat no other Indian airline has been able to achieve thus far.

In the fiscal ended March 31, IndiGo reported a profit of Rs 1,989.7 crore, which according to Ghosh is its “highest ever yearly profits”. In FY15, the airline reported a profit of Rs 1,304.17 crore.