Naresh Goyal Biography

Personal Background of Naresh Goyal

'Rags to Riches' perfectly describes Naresh Goyal’s eventful life. Born in the family of a prosperous jewellery dealer, he saw financially hard times befall his family, at the age of 11 years.

Everything that was owned by the family, including the house they lived in, was auctioned off by the government and bank, and all their belongings were thrown out on the streets. His uncle and brother helped him financially through college, and at 18 years of age, he had completed his Bachelor in Commerce from Bikram College of Commerce in Patiala.

He wished to pursue Chartered Accountancy or Law, but lack of money prevented him from doing so. At such a downtrodden phase of life, Goyal experienced and braved all hardships, starting with studying under the light of the street lamp, to sleeping on the floor of his uncle's office, treating it as his home. The modesty that covers this billionaire today, finds its roots in the humble, difficult days he faced while growing up.

Naresh married Anita, who has been associated with Jet Airways, since its inception, and has 28 years of experience in the aviation industry's marketing and sales.

They have a daughter, named Namrata who has recently been introduced to the group as a management trainee at the age of 21. Sources say she had been interested in theater and direction. They also have a son, Nivan.

Naresh Goyal's Career

• In 1967, after completing his graduation , he started working for his uncle's agency at the Lebanese International Airlines, as a cashier and was paid Rs. 300 per month.
• Subsequently, in the year 1969, he was appointed as the Public Relation Manager of Iraqi Airways.
• In the years 1971-1974, he acted as the Regional Manager for ALIA, Royal Jordanian Airlines. Along the line, he also gained experience in various areas such as ticketing, reservation and sales, by working with Indian offices of Middle Eastern Airline.
• Thereafter, he was appointed Regional Manager of Phillipine Airlines, where he handled the commercial operation of the airline in India.
• In 1974,he took 500 pounds from his mother,and set up his own agency named Jet air, formed on the lines of Air France, Australian Airlines, and Cathay Pacific. He provided sales and marketing representation to foreign airlines in India by floating Jet air private limited.
• In 1991, the Indian aviation market began to open up. The government allowed private carriers to fly, but they were not allowed to print time tables.
• Seizing such opportunity, it was finally in the year 1992, that he took the major step of setting up his own airline-jet airways, with backing from Gulf air and Kuwaiti air.

Problems faced by Naresh Goyal

Controversies have always surrounded him, including:

• The time when the Tata's wished to start Tata Singapore, it was generally perceived that Goyal acted as the key man behind the project's sabotage.
• He was alleged to represent a number of underworld dons, including Daowood Ibrahim, Chota shakeel.
• Apart from this, problems of capacity increasing the demand, irrational pricing, not being able to cover costs,including taxes of the navigation, landing, aviation fuel charges.

Jetairways- Company Profile

• The company was established in 1992, as an air taxi operator.
• Today,it is broadly divided into two segments Air Transportation and Aircraft Leasing.
• Geographically too, it has been divided into two groups, Domestic( air transportation within India) and International (air transportation outside India).
• A special flyer programme, named Jet privilege, serves the people who frequently use the services of Jet Airways, by making them members of Jet Privilege and accumulating miles to their credit.
• In 2007, jet airways took over Air Sahara, and this was renamed as Jet lite.
• It has a fleet of 25 aircrafts, consisting of 18 Boeing 737 series and 7 CRJ.
• It operates over 110 flights a day, and flies over to 28 domestic and two International destinations, namely Kathmandu and Colombo.

Awards and Acheivements of Naresh Goyal

A self made man, who rode against tides of poverty and established himself amongst the nation's richest-Naresh Goyal, has truly inspired many hearts all over the world.

He is the recipient of many prestigious awards and honors, such as:

• The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh presented the first NDTV Profit Business Award to Jet Airways in 2006.
• 'Man of the year' award by the Belgian aviation Press Club in 2008.
• 'Lifetime Achievment Award' by travel agents Association of India in 2010
• 'Star of Asia' award by Business week.
• Jet Airways won the 'Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Services' from Ernst & Young.
• 'Distinguished Alumni Award-2000' for meritorious and distinguished performance as an Entrepreneur.
• The 'Most Respected Company in Travel and Hospitality Sector'.

Today, nearing 60 years of age, having built country's biggest domestic airline,he is still going strong and aspiring to go global, by expanding his number of routes across Europe, Asia and the United States.

A man with shrewd business skills, he has successfully built an enviable reputation for himself, worth US $2.2 billion.

Last Updated on 08/06/2015