The Low-Key High-Flyer

THE BOEING & AIRBUS TEAM, WHO NEGOTIATED THE AIRCRAFT DEAL WITH AIR INDIA, WOULD PROBABLY NOT FORGET AGGARWAL IN A HURRY

- SWARAJ BAGGONKAR

NIPUN AGGARWAL, 51, who was appointed chairman of Air India Express on Tuesday, is not an aviation industry veteran, but the Boeing and Airbus top brass would probably never forget him.

In late 2022, a few months after boarding Air India, Aggarwal led a five-member team of the Tata Sons-owned airline to negotiate the biggest aircraft deal in commercial aviation. The deal was crucial for the transformation of the legacy carrier as this would meet its growing appetite for aircraft for the next 5-6 years at least. As chief commercial and transformation officer at Air India (before that he was chief due diligence officer), Aggarwal drove a hard bargain, prompting the aircraft manufacturers to say, "the Air India team compares with some of the best dealmakers in the business".

The Boeing and Airbus team should have known better: After all, the low-key Aggarwal was perceived as a hard-nosed investment banker by Air India officers who faced his questions before the deal-making stage.

In early 2023, Air India announced the purchase of 470 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus with an option to purchase an additional 370. While the purchase price wasn't disclosed, the total deal value is estimated at around $80 billion, going by the list prices of the aircraft.