NAME: NARESH CHANDRA GOYAL AGE: 57 DESIGNATION: Chairman STATE: Jet Airways

Two years after he initially wanted to start services between Mumbai and New York, Naresh Chandra Goyal, Chairman of Jet Airways, has finally received permission to fly to the United States. With a fleet of new Airbus A330-200s and Boeing 777-300ers expected to arrive early next year, Jet Airways, which has established itself as the best domestic carrier in India over the past decade, will finally be able to expand its international operations beyond South-East Asia and London (Heathrow). And given that margins on domestic operations are wafer-thin at best, Jet will finally be able to bolster its finances on higher-yield international routes.

However, it is not all plain sailing for Goyal, a few months after Jet Airways literally stood up Air Sahara at the altar. Whatever the reasons for this-and Goyal probably has extremely sound business reasons for doing so-it has become a lingering battle, but he'd rather move on. In the past few months, Goyal has responded to the challenge thrown by Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines and started a fleet-wide installation of in-flight entertainment systems. Goyal, who is the great survivor of the first round of airline deregulation in India in the early 1990s, has also met the challenge of low-cost carriers with aggressive yield management, which has allowed the airline to offer reduced fares. The controversy over the source of his funding is now a forgotten chapter. Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel has given him a clean chit in Parliament and the US permission will almost certainly put to rest any lingering talk on the issue.

However, while his passengers are relatively satisfied, Goyal has had trouble keeping his shareholders happy. Since Jet Airways' Rs 1,900-crore IPO almost two years ago, almost half of its market capitalization has been eroded, and given that Goyal is still the largest shareholder in the airline, this has hurt him as well. More so, because he almost single handedly rose from the ranks of millions of other travel agents to straddle the air travel market in India. However, Goyal must be hoping that the permission to fly to the US is the beginning of a bright new chapter, not only for his airline but also, hopefully, for his shareholders.

-Kushan Mitra