Unni, who retired from the national carrier in 2013 moved to the Naresh Goyal-promoted airline last month to handle its operations, and engineering and maintenance services, sources said.
Prior to his retirement, Unni was the head of the airline's special business unit for MRO besides holding the charge of its ground handling subsidiary, Air India Air Transport Services Limited (AIATSL).
He also held the charge of Chief Operating Officer at Air India, though for a brief period, after the government removed the then expat COO Gustav Baldauf in March 2011 from the post.