Akasa Air appoints Sejal Haribhakti Mody as its Chief Human Resources Officer
Akasa Air, India’s fastest-growing airline, announced the appointment of Sejal Haribhakti Mody as its Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO), effective September 9, 2024. Sejal will lead Akasa Air’s human resources strategy as the airline continues on its path to becoming one of the top 30 airlines in the world by the turn of this decade.
In her new role, Sejal will be responsible for driving organizational and functional transformation, enterprise performance and talent management, and leadership development, while ensuring a strong focus on employee experience and culture. With a career spanning over 20 years, Sejal brings a wealth of experience in human resources, organizational change, and talent strategy across industries, including FMCG, media and consulting.
Commenting on the appointment, Vinay Dube, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Akasa Air, said, “We are delighted to welcome Sejal to the Akasa family. Her deep expertise in organizational transformation, change management and her passion for building strong, people-centric cultures will be instrumental as we continue to scale our operations and maintain our commitment to providing world-class customer experience rooted in employee centricity.”
Sejal Haribhakti Mody, Chief Human Resources Officer, Akasa Air, added, “The Indian aviation industry has witnessed tremendous transformation, and I am thrilled to join Akasa Air at such an exciting phase of its journey. With deep understanding of people practices and employee experience programs, I look forward to working with the talented team at Akasa, to build a dynamic and inclusive culture that empowers our people to thrive and contribute to Akasa’s success as India’s most customer-centric airline.”
Before joining Akasa Air, Sejal held a leadership role at Hindustan Unilever Ltd., where she served as the HR Head for Supply Chain, Legal, and ESG/Sustainability for South Asia. In this capacity, she was responsible for Talent Strategy, Organisation Design, Workforce planning, Culture and Capability building while also continuing to focus on partnering with the Supply Chain and Legal functions. Her previous experience has included roles such as Senior Vice President for Corporate HR at Disney Star, where she led strategic HR initiatives during the Disney-Star integration. She has also held key leadership roles at McKinsey & Co. and Accenture.
Sejal has earned an MBA in Finance and Change Management from the Indian School of Business and a BBA Honors in Management Information Systems from Texas McCombs School of Business.
Akasa Air’s consistent on-time leadership, operational efficiencies and extremely positive customer feedback have made it a preferred carrier in India, serving over 11 million passengers since its launch in August 2022. Akasa Air currently connects with 22 domestic and five international cities, namely Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kochi, Delhi, Guwahati, Agartala, Pune, Lucknow, Goa, Hyderabad, Varanasi, Bagdogra, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Port Blair, Ayodhya, Gwalior, Srinagar, Prayagraj, Gorakhpur, Doha (Qatar), Jeddah, Riyadh (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), Abu Dhabi (UAE) and Kuwait City (Kuwait).