Director of Airline Turnaround — Interim, Passenger Aviation

The mandate

Departure punctuality at the largest base has fallen below sixty-two per cent after handler changes and an aggressive schedule bank. The airport operations director began unexpected medical leave, and daily coordination has become escalation without causal closure.

The interim must start within ten days for a fixed six-month cover, ending with the incumbent's planned return. The final three weeks will be a joint re-entry period unless health timing requires handover to the deputy instead.

Handover requires D15 punctuality above eighty per cent for twelve weeks, standard narrow-body turnaround consistently below forty minutes, mishandled bags reduced by a quarter, and an accepted winter disruption playbook.

The director may adjust stands, handler deployment and buffer within the approved schedule, and levy contractual service actions. Flight cancellation policy, schedule-bank redesign beyond five minutes and contract awards above ₹1 crore require COO approval; safety and captain authority are never overridden.

Fleet acquisition, network strategy and inflight service redesign are out of scope. The assignment concentrates on ground execution at the primary base and the feeder stations that determine its first-wave performance.

Why this seat is open

Medical absence coincided with the lowest punctuality quarter in three years. Acting cover lacks the seniority to enforce common decisions across airline and supplier teams. A six-month specialist can restore rhythm without displacing the returning executive.

What you will own

• Reconstruct delay minutes by controllable cause, first-wave propagation, station and third-party owner.
• Decide the minute-by-minute narrow-body turnaround standard with safe parallel task rules.
• Reallocate ground resources and stand plans around schedule banks and observed constraint points.
• Enforce handler recovery plans using scan, task-completion and aircraft-readiness evidence.
• Establish first-wave command that protects later network punctuality and transparent cancellation escalation.
• Test winter weather, equipment failure and late-inbound recovery through table-top and live drills.
• Return the operation with causal dashboards, supplier actions and a three-week re-entry dossier.

Candidate qualifications

• Eighteen-plus years in airline or airport ground operations with leadership at a high-volume constrained base.
• Delivered a measurable departure-punctuality turnaround involving handlers and multiple operational partners.
• Detailed command of aircraft turnaround, baggage, ramp safety, stand planning and delay-code integrity.
• Experience distinguishing schedule-design problems from controllable execution without distorting delay attribution.
• Ability to impose rapid operating cadence while respecting captain, engineering and safety authority.
• Prior temporary cover or disruption assignment returned successfully to a substantive executive.

Non-negotiables

• Available at Mumbai airport within ten days for early-wave and late-evening coverage.
• Eligible for airside clearance and prepared for irregular-operations escalation.
• No current commercial relationship with the incumbent ground handler.
• Accepts a six-month cover ending with incumbent return or deputy handover.

1. 49 words maximum. Confirm when you can begin airside duties and cover first-wave departures in Mumbai.
2. 49 words maximum. What D15 improvement did you sustain, at which scale and over how many weeks?
3. 49 words maximum. Which turnaround task did you resequence, and what safety evidence permitted parallel work?