Mumbai, Mar 22 (IANS): In an exercise to usher in the next phase of growth, budget carrier GoAir has appointed Ben Baldanza as the Vice Chairman of the company's board.

Jeh Wadia has stepped down from his position of Managing Director while continuing as a promoter of the company.

"With the goal of taking GoAir to its next phase of growth, the promoters of the company and its Board came together to formulate a long-term plan," the company said in a statement.

"Amongst other initiatives, a key element of this plan, forged over weeks of discussions and consultation, was to further strengthen the management of the company by bringing on-board proven industry professionals, a strategy that has worked well for the group in its other ventures including Britannia."

According to the statement, implementation of this plan commenced with the appointment of Baldanza, who has been an advisor to the company from 2018 and director since 2019, as Vice Chairman of the board.

Baldanza is an airline industry veteran of several decades, having worked in American Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Continental Airlines among others, before becoming the CEO of Spirit Airlines in 2006.

"He successfully repositioned Spirit Airlines into the first ULCC in the North Americas and increased its fleet from 32 to 100. As a result of his efforts, Spirit Airline achieved the highest profitability among all Airlines in the USA between 2008 and 2015. He also took the company public by successfully leading its IPO in 2011."

"Baldanza, as Vice Chairman, will now work directly with the management team, comprising Kaushik Khona - CEO and Pankaj Chaturvedi - CFO, in the next growth phase of GoAir into making it India's first ULCC."